Patrick Makes History With Late-Race Pass For Indy Japan 300 Victory

MOTEGI, Japan — Danica Patrick finally put to rest the question, “Is she ever going to win?” in the IndyCar Series.
Patrick made history on the other side of the earth by winning Sunday’s Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi, taking the lead with two laps to go and becoming the first female driver to win an IndyCar race.
Although there have been female drivers who have won in drag racing, Patrick is the first female to win in a major closed-course racing series.
Patrick, in tears in victory lane, passed race-leader Helio Castroneves, who was trying to save fuel and make it to the finish.
But it was Patrick who played the perfect strategy.
“It’s been a long time coming, finally,” Patrick said. “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.
“Finally.”
Patrick, who burst into the racing scene as an IndyCar rookie in 2005, was able to celebrate the win in Japan with her family.
“Finally, finally, she worked so hard, she worked so hard,” said Patrick’s mother, Bev. “We finally got the win that everybody has been waiting for. Thank God. This is awesome.”

MOTOROLLIN': Danica Patrick races toward the finish in Sunday's Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi. (Dana Garrett/IRL IndyCar Photo)

Her father, T.J. Patrick, called it the “best day of my life.” Her husband, Paul Hospenthal, was the calmest of the group.
“I’m so happy for her; it’s great for everybody,” said Hospenthal, a physical therapist for professional athletes. “It’s great, great for anybody. Female aside, she’s just a hard competitor. This is fantastic.”
Patrick became the first female driver ever to win a race in her 50th IndyCar start.
“I’m so happy for her and so proud for her,” said team owner Michael Andretti. “It’s always been a question of when, not if, she was going to win. I love this girl. I’m so happy for her that the monkey is off her back. You’ll see, there is more to come.
“She wanted to win so bad. She is such a competitor. This was getting the monkey off her back herself. This is the first of many more.”
There was so much rain leading up to the race that weepers developed in the track surface. With limited practice time and qualifications rained out, it was a completely green race track when the start of the race was supposed to be held on a very cold and windy day in Japan.
Weepers developed in the fourth turn of the track, and after lengthy procedures could not solve the problem, the race was postponed for 22 hours and moved from Saturday to Sunday in Japan.
Castroneves, making his 100th IndyCar start, was on the pole with the starting lineup based on point standings, starting alongside Dixon.
When the engines were officially fired to start the race on another cold day in Japan, the green flag finally waved, but the race didn’t stay green for long.
Marco Andretti spun out in the first turn of the first lap, crashing into the wall as cold tires on the race course may have led to Andretti’s early exit in the single-car incident.
Andretti, who finished second in the season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway, was running fourth in the next race at St. Petersburg, Fla., before he broke a half-shaft while trying to leave the pits. The second-straight poor finish for Andretti has once again mired him deep in the points for the second race in a row.
“It’s embarrassing,” Andretti said. “Cold tires are when you are supposed to take advantage of the other guys. I can’t blame it on that. It was driver error. I’m really sorry.”
Racing resumed on the eighth lap with Castroneves in front of Dixon and Tony Kanaan. Dan Wheldon went under Kanaan’s car to take away third place.
Castroneves built a decent lead in the early stages of the race.
Ed Carpenter was the first to make his pit stop on lap 47. That was done by design to get out of sequence with the rest of the contenders. Patrick pitted on the next lap and Castroneves was about to come into pit lane when the yellow flag waved after Marty Roth crashed.
Wheldon was running out of fuel, so he was allowed to do a splash-and-go pit stop, but had to come back in once the pits were opened for a full pit stop. Dixon also had to do a quick fuel stop to keep from running out of fuel on the course.
Briscoe, who started 15th and pitted during the first caution flag, was able to jump to second when the green flag waved on lap 57 because he had more fuel in his tank from the previous stop.
The third yellow flag came on lap 92 when Vitor Meira brushed the wall. Castroneves was still in front, chased by Dixon. Most of the field pitted on lap 94.
Dixon was the new race leader after pit stops and was in front of the field when the green flag waved on lap 98.
Roger Yasukawa lost his brakes on the front stretch to bring out the fourth yellow flag, which was a break for the drivers about to make green flag pit stops.
Dixon, the leader, led the field down pit road on lap 144. Dixon was the first car out followed by Briscoe.
The green flag waved on lap 151 with Dixon pulling away. Castroneves was shuffled back to seventh place with 30 laps to go as the contenders had to conserve fuel if they were going to make it the distance.
Wheldon took second when he passed Kanaan on lap 173 putting the two Target Chip Ganassi drivers first and second.
Briscoe nearly crashed for the third-straight race when he attempted to pass Hunter-Reay for fifth place. Briscoe’s car got into the gray and slid up the race course, brushing the wall, but continued without a caution.
Hunter-Reay was the first to pit for a splash of fuel with nine laps left in the race. Dixon pitted with five laps to go as the leader. He was in and out of the pits in 2.7 seconds, getting just enough fuel to make it to the finish.
One lap later, Wheldon and Kanaan both pitted, giving the race lead to Castroneves with four laps to go. Patrick passed Castroneves with two laps to go as the Team Penske driver tried to save fuel.
From there, she drove into history.