, also known by , is a Japanese businessman and former racing driver. Matsushita is the first and only Japanese driver to win the Toyota Atlantic Championship (Pacific) in 1989 and also the first Japanese driver to race at the Indy 500. He is the grandson of Kōnosuke Matsushita, founder of Panasonic, and son of Masaharu Matsushita, who served as the second president of Panasonic for sixteen years beginning in 1961. Early life Matsushita was born in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and graduated from Konan University. The grandson of the founder of Panasonic has been edgy from the start about the tag of a rich kid who can buy his own ride, he worked his way up from the bottom. He began racing Formula Fords, the Class A of auto racing, in 1987. The following year, teaming with Jim Downing in a Camel Lights car, he finished second in class at the 24 Hours of Daytona and third at the 12 Hours of Sebring. In 1989, Matsushita jumped into the Formula Atlantic series. By the end of 1989, Matsushita earned four victories and the Formula Atlantic series championship. Racing career Matsushita started his career racing motorcycles in his home country between 1977 and 1979, before making the switch to four wheels. Matsushita began to make his name known by winning 1989 Toyota Atlantic championship (Pacific division) with the largest point margin of all time. He then tried Formula Pacific in New Zealand and became the first Japanese driver to win the prestigious Lady Wigram Trophy Race. He graduated to Champ Car in 1990, scoring one point in his debut season. He became the first Japanese driver to race in the Indianapolis 500. In 1991, and followed that achievement with a top ten finish at Milwaukee. Matsushita missed the 1992 Indy 500 after suffering a broken leg during a practice crash. He was sidelined for several weeks and missed the next six events as well. At the Phoenix race in 1994, Matsushita endured a horrific crash in which his car was cut in half by Jacques Villeneuve's car traveling at nearly full speed. He emerged from his destroyed car with only minor injuries. The same year, he earned his best career finish of 6th position at the Marlboro 500 at Michigan International Speedway. This result was made possible by an extraordinarily high rate of attrition that saw only 8 cars finish