2008 Indy Japan 300

2008 Motegi

Race details
3rd (A) round of the 2008 IndyCar Series season
Date	April 20, 2008
Official name	Indy Japan 300
Location	Twin Ring Motegi
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.520 mi / 2.446 km
Distance	200 laps 304.000 mi / 489.241 km
Weather	54°F, Mostly cloudy
Pole position
Driver	Hélio Castroneves ( Penske Racing)
Time	set by driver points[1]
Fastest lap
Driver	Hélio Castroneves ( Penske Racing)
Time	27.6476 (on lap 12 of 200)
Podium
First	Danica Patrick ( Andretti Green Racing)
Second	Hélio Castroneves ( Penske Racing)
Third	Scott Dixon ( Chip Ganassi Racing)

The race, with Marco Andretti spinning out.

The 2008 Indy Japan 300 was the third round of the 2008 IndyCar Series season, for drivers who competed in the series in 2007 and teams that had entered for 2008 who were not former Champ Car teams that were in transition. This was because the 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach occurred on the same weekend and there was no way of changing dates to avoid the clash when the reunification took place. Originally scheduled for the afternoon of April 19, 2008 at the 1.52-mile (2.45 km) Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi, the race was delayed by 22 hours until the morning of April 20, due to water seeping up onto the track from previous heavy rains.^[2] The race was historic in that Danica Patrick became the first female to win a race in the history of top-level American open-wheel racing.^[3]

Qualifying

Due to rain in the Tochigi region, qualifying was cancelled and the field was set by driver points.^[1] Thus, the grid was:

Pos	No.	Driver	Team
1	3	Hélio Castroneves	Penske Racing
2	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing
3	11	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing
4	26	Marco Andretti	Andretti Green Racing
5	10	Dan Wheldon	Chip Ganassi Racing
6	7	Danica Patrick	Andretti Green Racing
7	20	Ed Carpenter	Vision Racing
8	2	A. J. Foyt IV	Vision Racing
9	27	Hideki Mutoh (R)	Andretti Green Racing
10	17	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Rahal Letterman Racing
11	15	Buddy Rice	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
12	14	Darren Manning	A. J. Foyt Enterprises
13	4	Vítor Meira	Panther Racing
14	24	Jay Howard (R)	Roth Racing
15	6	Ryan Briscoe	Penske Racing
16	23	Townsend Bell	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
17	25	Marty Roth	Roth Racing
18	77	Roger Yasukawa	CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports

Race

Finish	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Laps Led	Points
1	7	Danica Patrick	Andretti Green Racing	200	1:51:02.6739	6	3	50
2	3	Hélio Castroneves	Penske Racing	200	+5.8594	1	94	40
3	9	Scott Dixon	Target Chip Ganassi	200	+10.0559	2	101	38
4	10	Dan Wheldon	Target Chip Ganassi	200	+13.1116	5	2	32
5	11	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing	200	+16.0731	3	0	30
6	20	Ed Carpenter	Vision Racing	200	+16.2872	7	0	28
7	17	Ryan Hunter-Reay (R)	Rahal Letterman Racing	200	+17.5193	10	0	26
8	14	Darren Manning	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	199	+1 Lap	12	0	24
9	6	Ryan Briscoe	Penske Racing	199	+1 Lap	15	0	22
10	23	Townsend Bell	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	199	+1 Lap	16	0	20
11	27	Hideki Mutoh (R)	Andretti Green Racing	199	+1 Lap	9	0	19
12	15	Buddy Rice	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	198	+2 Laps	11	0	18
13	24	Jay Howard	Roth Racing	192	+8 Laps	14	0	17
14	77	Roger Yasukawa	CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports	134	Brakes	18	0	16
15	2	A. J. Foyt IV	Vision Racing	103	Accident	8	0	15
16	4	Vítor Meira	Panther Racing	92	Accident	13	0	14
17	25	Marty Roth	Roth Racing	44	Accident	17	0	13
18	26	Marco Andretti	Andretti Green Racing	0	Collision	4	0	12
Race average speed: 164.258 mph (264.348 km/h)
Lead changes: 5 between 4 drivers
Cautions: 4 for 29 laps

References

NOTE: A "Transition Team" is a former Champ Car team joining the IRL after reunification earlier in 2008. The contract for the Long Beach race could not be changed in time so Long Beach and Motegi took place at the same weekend.