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 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. Danica Patrick won the race, becoming the first female winner in the history of top-level American open-wheel racing.
Qualifying Due to rain in the Tochigi region, qualifying was cancelled and the field was set by driver points. Thus, the grid was: +Qualifying grid for the 2008 Indy Japan 300 Pos No. Driver Team 13 Hélio CastronevesPenske Racing 29 Scott DixonChip Ganassi Racing 311 Tony KanaanAndretti Green Racing 426 Marco AndrettiAndretti Green Racing 510 Dan WheldonChip Ganassi Racing 67 Danica PatrickAndretti Green Racing 720 Ed CarpenterVision Racing 82 A. J. Foyt IVVision Racing 927 Hideki Mutoh (R)Andretti Green Racing 1017 Ryan Hunter-ReayRahal Letterman Racing 1115 Buddy RiceDreyer & Reinbold Racing 1214 Darren ManningA. J. Foyt Enterprises 134 Vítor MeiraPanther Racing 1424 Jay Howard (R)Roth Racing 156 Ryan BriscoePenske Racing 1623 Townsend BellDreyer & Reinbold Racing 1725 Marty RothRoth Racing 1877 Roger Yasukawa CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports
Race The race's average speed was and it featured five lead changes between four drivers, as well as cautions on four for 29 laps.
+Outcome of the 2008 Indy Japan 300 Finish CarNo. Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid LapsLed Points 17 Danica PatrickAndretti Green Racing2001:51:02.67396350 23 Hélio CastronevesPenske Racing200+5.859419440 39 Scott DixonTarget Chip Ganassi200+10.0559210138 410 Dan WheldonTarget Chip Ganassi200+13.11165232 511 Tony KanaanAndretti Green Racing200+16.07313030 620 Ed CarpenterVision Racing200+16.28727028 717 Ryan Hunter-Reay (R)Rahal Letterman Racing200+17.519310026 814 Darren ManningA. J. Foyt Enterprises199+1 Lap12024 96 Ryan BriscoePenske Racing199+1 Lap15022 1023 Townsend BellDreyer & Reinbold Racing199+1 Lap16020 1127 Hideki Mutoh (R)Andretti Green Racing199+1 Lap9019 1215 Buddy RiceDreyer & Reinbold Racing198+2 Laps11018 1324 Jay HowardRoth Racing192+8 Laps14017 1477 Roger Yasukawa CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports134Brakes18016 152 A. J. Foyt IVVision Racing103Accident8015 164 Vítor MeiraPanther Racing92Accident13014 1725 Marty RothRoth Racing44Accident17013 1826 Marco AndrettiAndretti Green Racing0Collision4012
References