is an American-born Japanese former auto racing driver. He was born in Los Angeles, California, but holds Japanese citizenship.
Yasukawa started karting in Southern California, winning the California State Championship in 1991 in Junior Sportsman. He then moved to Italy to compete in JICA. He moved to car racing in 1997 in the Formula Vauxhall Junior Championship in England, before winning the West Coast Skip Barber Formula Dodge 2-Liter Championship in 1998. He moved back to the UK to compete in the inaugural Formula Palmer Audi Championship, before driving several years in the Barber Dodge Pro Series before moving up to the Toyota Atlantic championship in 2002 as a teammate to Ryan Hunter-Reay. He finished tenth in points.
Yasukawa signed to drive for former Formula One driver Aguri Suzuki's new Indy Racing League team in 2003. He was second to future series champion Dan Wheldon in the rookie-of-the-year standings and twelfth overall, with eight top-ten finishes. He ran only two races for Rahal Letterman Racing in 2004 but finished tenth both times. He struggled on a return to a full-time seat in 2005 for the underfunded Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.
Yasukawa has only made occasional IRL appearances since 2006. He drove in the 2006 Indianapolis 500 for Playa Del Racing and finished sixteenth. He was a late entry for the 2007 event, running in Dreyer and Reinbold's third car, alongside 2004 Indianapolis 500 champion Buddy Rice and Sarah Fisher. In 2008, he contested the Motegi round as well as the 2008 Indianapolis 500, for Beck Motorsports, however he failed to qualify for Indy.
In 2007, Yasukawa drove the No. 11 SAMAX Motorsport Daytona Prototype at Infineon Raceway, finishing seventeenth.
Yasukawa currently works in driver management, representing drivers both in the United States and Japan. He was instrumental in bringing Spaniard Álex Palou to IndyCar from Japan and secured a deal between Team Goh and Dale Coyne Racing for Palou to debut in the IndyCar series. Yasukawa was then able to secure Palou a drive with Chip Ganassi Racing the following year, which helped Palou become a title contender and eventual champion of the 2021 IndyCar Series.
Motorsports Career Results
American open–wheel racing results (key)
Barber Dodge Pro Series Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points 1999SEB10NAZ11LRP15POR11CLE10ROA11DET6MOH7GRA6LS6HMS6WGI69th81 2000SEB4MIA25NAZ5LRP11DET5CLE5MOH8ROA4VAN11LS25RAT5HMS87th94 2001SEB4PIR7LRP13LRP210DET2CLE6TOR4CHI8MOH5ROA2VAN1LS4th128
Atlantic Championship Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points 2002 Hylton MotorsportsMTYLBH7MIL1LS3POR8CHI2TORRetCLE21TRRRetROA10MTLDEN10th73
IndyCar Series Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Rank Points Ref 2003 Fernandez Racing Super Aguri 55 Dallara IR-03 Honda HI3R V8HMS14PHX17MOT21INDY10TXS9PPI17RIR11KAN7NSH15MIS8STL18KTY12NZR8CHI8CAL7TX210 12th 301 2004 Rahal Letterman Racing 16 G-Force GF09B Honda HI4R V8HMSPHXMOT11INDY10TXSRIRKANNSHMILMISKTYPPINZRCHICALTX2 26th 39 2005 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 24 Dallara IR-05 Honda HI5R V8HMS17PHX18STP11MOT18INDY18TXS15RIR16KAN22NSH11MIL15MIS18KTY17PPI15SNM11CHI15WGL15CAL16 17th 246 2006 Playa Del Racing 12 Panoz GF09C Honda HI6R V8 HMS STPMOTINDY16WGLTXSRIRKANNSHMILMISKTYSNMCHI 28th 14 2007 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 24 Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8 HMS STP MOT KANINDY21 MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL NSH MOH MIS KTY SNM DET CHI 30th 12 2008 CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports 77 HMS STPMOT114 LBH1DNP KANINDYDNQ MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL NSH MOH EDM KTY SNM DET CHI 35th 16 2009 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 43STPLBHKANINDYMILTXSIOWRIRWGLTOREDMKTYMOHSNMCHIMOT20HMS 39th 12 2010 Conquest Racing 36SAOSTPALALBHKANINDYTXSIOWWGLTOREDMMOHSNMCHIKTYMOT20HMS 40th 12
1 Run on same day.
Years Teams Races Poles Wins Podiums(Non-win) Top 10s(Non-podium) Indianapolis 500Wins Championships8641000900
Indianapolis 500 results
Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team 2003 Dallara Honda 11th 10th Fernández 2004 G-Force Honda 12th 10th Rahal Letterman 2005 Dallara Honda 17th 18th Dreyer & Reinbold 2006 Panoz Honda 28th 16th Playa Del 2007 Dallara Honda 23rd 21st Dreyer & Reinbold 2008 Dallara Honda Failed to Qualify Beck
References
External links
Roger Yasukawa official website - in Japanese