Japanese veteran entered at Dover.

Vastly experienced Sportscar ace Hideo Fukuyama will attempt to become the first Japanese driver to qualify for a NASCAR Winston Cup event this coming weekend at Dover Downs International Speedway according to NASCAR's official website.

The 47 year-old former Japanese Formula 3 and Formula 3000 driver will attempt to qualify the #66 Travis Carter owned Ford Taurus for the MBNA All American Heroes 400 according to www.nascar.com.

Fukuyama, who currently races for the well known Japanese Porsche 911 GT3 outfit Team Taisan Advan in the GT 300 class of the burgeoning Japanese GT Championship is known to have been in Carter's sights for some time and recently spent a day testing the #66 Ford at the one-mile high banked concrete oval. Although he has never attempted a round of the Winston Cup Championship before, Fukuyama was one of several Japanese 'guest' drivers when NASCAR visited the Far East for two end-of-season showpiece events in the late 1990's.

Fukuyama is expected to bring some level of sponsorship with him to the deal as Carter has had the #66 team in mothballs for much of the year after the withdrawal of previous sponsors K-Mart and, according to the report, there could be several more outings in place before the end of the year. Fukuyama finished seventh in the GT 300 class in the most recent round of the All Japan GT Championship last weekend at the road course in Motegi and currently sits in third position in the GT 300 drivers standings with two races remaining this year.

In an effort to get his second NWC team back on the grid for the 2003 season, Carter also tested at a short-track in Lakeland, Florida with open-wheel star Max Papis during the summer. With the Winston Cup more popular than ever in places such as Japan and the European market primed for tapping, the thought of a Japanese, Italian or even a British Winston Cup driver is no longer such a major shock.