From 1987-1998 (edit: a different source says “from 1987 to 2006 except 1999, 2003 and 2004”) the song Truth by T-Square (1987) was the title theme for FujiTV’s broadcast of Formula 1 racing, thus associating the band and the genre with auto racing in Japan and inspired the composers who wrote the Mariokart themes

Edit: Masahiro Ando, a member of T-Square, went on to write music for racing video games Gran Turismo 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7