| Race details | |
|---|---|
| 3rd (A) round of the2008 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 (12 °C), 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) |
The2008 Indy Japan 300 was the third round of the2008 IndyCar Series season, for drivers who competed in the series in2007 and teams that had entered for 2008 who were not former Champ Car teams that were in transition. This was because the2008 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 inMotegi, 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]Danica Patrick won the race, becoming the first female winner in the history of top-levelAmerican open-wheel racing.[3]
Due to rain in theTochigi region, qualifying was cancelled and the field was set by driver points.[1] Thus, the grid was:
The race's average speed was 164.258 mph (264.348 km/h) and it featured five lead changes between four drivers, as well as cautions on four for 29 laps.
| 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 |
| 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) |