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Posted on Tuesday, 09.15.09

IndyCar Series - Indy Japan 300 Preview

The Sports Network

Date: Saturday, September 19th

Start Time: 11 p.m. (et) (Friday, September 18th - US time)

Site: Twin Ring Motegi -- Motegi, Japan

Track: 1.5-mile oval

Laps: 200

Miles: 300

Capacity: 68,104

Total purse:

Payouts:

Year: 7th

On TV: Versus

Announcers: Bob Jenkins, Jon Beekhuis, Robbie Buhl

On Radio: IMS Radio Network/SIRIUS XM Satellite

Race record: Dan Wheldon, 2004 (166.114 m.p.h.)

Qualifying record: Dan Wheldon, 2004 (205.762 m.p.h.)

2008 Finish

Defending champion: Danica Patrick

Runner up: Helio Castroneves

Pole winner: Helio Castroneves (2008 entrant points)

Top 10:

1. Danica Patrick (Start: 6)

2. Helio Castroneves (1)

3. Scott Dixon (2)

4. Dan Wheldon (5)

5. Tony Kanaan (3)

6. Ed Carpenter (7)

7. Ryan Hunter-Reay (10)

8. Darren Manning (12)

9. Ryan Briscoe (15)

10. Townsend Bell (16)

Average speed: 164.258 m.p.h.

Time of race: 1 hour, 51 minutes, 2.6739 seconds

Margin of victory: 5.8594 seconds

Caution flags: 4 for 29 laps

Lead changes: 5 among 4 drivers

Past winners

2008 Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 164.258 m.p.h.

2007 Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 162.295 m.p.h.

2006 Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 153.248 m.p.h.

2005 Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 133.365 m.p.h.

2004 Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 166.114 m.p.h. (race record)

2003 Scott Sharp, Dallara-Toyota, 129.090 m.p.h.

Last race

Race: PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 (August 29th)

Site: Chicagoland Speedway -- Joliet, Illinois

Miles: 300

Laps: 200

Finish line order: Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon, Mario Moraes, Dario Franchitti, Graham Rahal

Time of Race: 1 hour, 42 minutes, 34.3051 seconds

Average speed: 177.827 m.p.h.

Margin of victory: 0.0077 second

Caution flags: 3 for 23 laps

Lead changes: 18 among 6 drivers

Lap leaders: Ryan Briscoe 1-46, Scott Dixon 47-55, Briscoe 56-59, Dixon 60,Ryan Briscoe 1-46, Scott Dixon 47-55, Briscoe 56-59, Dixon 60,Briscoe 61-74, Helio Castroneves 75-95, Dixon 96-102, Castroneves103, Dixon 104-106, Castroneves 107, Dixon 108-112, TomasScheckter 113-116, Tony Kanaan 117-123, Dario Franchitti 124-157,Briscoe 158-160, Dixon, 161-195, Briscoe 196-197, Dixon 198,Briscoe 199-200.

Entry list

#02 Graham Rahal (New Albany, OH) McDonald's/Newman/Haas/Lanigan

#2 Raphael Matos (Belo Horiz., Brazil) U.S. Air Force/Luczo Dragon Racing

#3 Helio Castroneves (Sao Paulo, Brz.) Team Penske

#4 Dan Wheldon (Emberton, England) National Guard/Panther Racing

#5 Mario Moraes (Sao Paulo, Brazil) Azul Tequila/KV Racing Technology

#06 Oriol Servia (Pals, Spain) Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing

#6 Ryan Briscoe (Sydney, Australia) Team Penske

#7 * Danica Patrick (Roscoe, IL) Boost Motorola/Andretti Green Racing

#9 Scott Dixon (Auckland, New Zealand) Target Chip Ganassi Racing

#10 Dario Franchitti (Scotland) Lifelock/Chip Ganassi Racing

#11 Tony Kanaan (Salvador, Brazil) Team 7-Eleven/Andretti Green Racing

#13 EJ Viso (Caracas, Venezuela) PDVSA HVM Racing

#14 Ryan Hunter-Reay (Boca Raton, FL) ABC Supply Co/AJ Foyt Racing

#18 Justin Wilson (Sheffield, England) Z-Line Designs/Dale Coyne Racing

#20 Ed Carpenter (Indianapolis, IN) Vision/Lilly Racing/Vision Racing

#23 Tomas Scheckter (Cape Town, So Afr) Mona Vie/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

#24 Mike Conway (Bromley, England) Charter Media/Dreyer & Reinbold

#26 Marco Andretti (Nazareth, PA) Venom Energy/Andretti Green Racing

#27 Hideki Mutoh (Tokyo, Japan) Formula Dream/Andretti Green Racing

#33 Robert Doornbos (Netherlands) HVM Racing

#34 Kosuke Matsuura (Aichi, Japan) Click Securities/Conquest Racing

#43 Roger Yasukawa (Los Angeles, CA) Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

#98 Stanton Barrett (Bishop, CA) Interush Racing

Leading contenders

Name	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Danica Patrick			4th	8th	11th	Won
Helio Castroneves	22nd	3rd	11th	Won	7th	2nd
Scott Dixon	15th	5th	21st	9th	4th	3rd
Dan Wheldon	7th	Won	Won	2nd	2nd	4th
Tony Kanaan	14th	2nd	6th	3rd	Won	5th
Ed Carpenter		22nd	13th	20th	15th	6th
Ryan Hunter-Reay						7th
Ryan Briscoe			12th			9th
Hideki Mutoh						11th
Marco Andretti				12th	16th	18th

Notes

Danica Patrick finally answered her critics by capturing the rain-delayedJapan Indy 300 last year. The No.7 Andretti Green Racing driver passed HelioCastroneves with three laps to go and crossed the finish line a comfortable5.8594 seconds ahead of the field. The victory was Patrick's first and thefirst by a woman in an IndyCar career. It came in her 50th IndyCar start.Scott Dixon, who placed third, led for 101 laps, while Castroneves led for 94.With just five laps remaining in 2007, Tony Kanaan overtook Dixon andraced to victory, edging Dan Wheldon by less than a second for his 8th careertitle. Starting from the third position on the grid, Kanaan led on fouroccasions for 26 laps, as he clipped Wheldon by 0.4828 of a second. Polesitter Helio Castroneves led for the first 43 laps, but faded and finishedseventh. Wheldon was in charge for most of the race, leading three times for arace-high 126 laps. It was a late pit stop with just 13 laps remaining thatdid Wheldon in, as he could never catch Kanaan.In 2006, Helio Castroneves cruised to victory, as he defeated Dan Wheldon by6.3851 seconds. Castroneves dominated in Japan, leading 184 of the 200 laps.Dan Wheldon is the only two-time and back-to-back winner of this race, havingtaken the checkered flag in 2004-05.With just two races remaining, Ryan Briscoe leads Dario Franchitti by just 25points. Scott Dixon is third, 33 points behind. Briscoe is a three-time winnerthis season and has finished either first or second in eight of his last nineraces.Twin Ring Motegi opened in 1997 and has seating capacity of 68,104. Inaddition to the oval, the facility also has a 2.849-mile road course and a0.634-mile short course. An amusement park surrounded by mountains, Twin RingMotegi combines motor racing, driving experiences, nature exploration andother activities. In addition to the IRL IndyCar Series, other motorsportsevents at the facility include MotoGP World Championship Series and theJapanese Formula Nippon Series. Michael Andretti (2000) and Kenny Brack (2001)both won CART events conducted at Twin Ring Motegi.The 2009 IndyCar Series season concludes October 10th at Homestead-MiamiSpeedway, as Scott Dixon defends his title at the GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy300.09/15 15:12:19 ET

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