Patrick makes history in Japan
Danica Patrick made history at Twin Ring Motegi as she used great pit strategy to win the Japan 300 and become the first female driver to win an IndyCar Race.
Patrick passed pole-sitter Helio Castroneves with just three laps as both benefitted from an extra pit stop after the last caution, giving them both enough fuel to finish the race.
Patrick, who won in her 50th IndyCar start, had fallen as far back as ninth in the final 20 laps, but most of the cars in front of her were forced to make a quick refueling pit stop over the final 12 laps.
The series point leader, Castroneves finished second for the second straight race and Scott Dixon placed third.
Dan Wheldon was next and Tony Kanaan rounded out the top five. The race was expected to take place Saturday morning but was postponed after rain soaked the track over the past two days.
Patrick said: "It's been a long time coming, finally. I can't say the last fuel stint was hard. We were taking it easy and taking care of the car. I was fast and managing to save fuel. I had been saving a little extra fuel and didn't want to make the mistake of pushing really hard to get by Helio."
When the race finally got under way, Castroneves was able to build a decent lead in the early stages of the race.
He held the top spot for the first 92 laps before Scott Dixon, who won the first race of the season at Miami-Homestead, took over the lead.
Dixon grabbed first place on pit road after the third caution of the race caused by Vitor Meira brushing the wall.
Benefiting from the clean air at the front of the pack, Dixon managed to pull away from the field and led until being forced to pit with five laps to go.
