2008 Indy Japan 300
| 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 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
| Preceded by | IRL IndyCar Series round 3A 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (transition teams; 3B) 2008 |
Succeeded by 2008 RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 (round 4) |
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.
