2008 Indy Japan 300

File:First lap of the 2008 Indy Japan 300.jpg

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