Penske driver Ryan Briscoe, who came into the race with a thirty-five point lead and hoped to seal the championship with a win at Motegi, crashed leaving the pits under a yellow flag, damaging his suspension and putting himself out of the points.
Dixon’s win with Franchitti second, coupled with Briscoe not scoring, sets up a three-way battle for the championship at the season’s final race in Homestead, Florida on October 10.
“It’s a great design. I love this track, I loved it the first time I came here,” said IndyCar veteran Orial Servia. “I like that it has different corners; the driver has to be able to drive it, the car has to be a good car. So it’s great. The only problem is, we only run here once a year, so the outside line is completely dirty, so every time you try to pass somebody you actually end up losing a spot.”
Dixon and Franchitti Lead The Way
Scott Dixon qualified on the pole and also led the most laps, earning him three extra points. Dario Franchitti led after the first pit stops, but got pushed wide while passing Raphael Matos, allowing Dixon to squeeze by. On lap 160, both cars pitted together, but Dixon left the pit box a fraction of a second earlier and out-dragged his teammate to the line, keeping his lead.“We needed to have a few problems on the Penske side, and that was definitely true today,” Dixon said after the race. “We had to make some fairly good changes to our car, in traffic, we had to put some front wing into the car—a lot of understeer—and we had to change some tire pressures. Tremendous day for Team Target. I think we vaulted, both of us back up there and that’s what we needed.
Dario Franchitti was able to fend off some determined challenges from Dixon after Franchitti took the lead on lap 53. Had Matos not interfered, the race might have gone to Franchitti.
“We managed to go one lap longer and get in the lead, but then I was passing the Two car [Raphael Matos] and he pushed me off. I almost went off, and Scotty got a run on me and that was it,” Franchitti explained. “Whichever one of us was in front had the advantage. To finish 1–2 is good. I’d prefer it was us, but Dixie and the guys did a great job.”
Graham Rahal drove an excellent race, finally finding his form after a frustrating season and finishing third for the Newman-Hass-Lanigan/McDonald’s team, with teammate Orial Servia right behind.
“We started kind of in this pattern. In the middle of the season we started to struggle a little bit—we weren’t getting the results we needed Now we’re ending strong, and we head off to Homestead, another place where we ought to be very good. And we’re gaining points. We’re seventh in points now, but we’re not far from fifth. If we would have started this charge earlier in the year, we would have been fifth if not fourth now, so The McDonald’s car has been right up there near the top five all year long and we’re knocking on the door. We’re going to win one, one of these days.”
“Every race we’ve been getting better and better and we third and fourth, just behind Team Ganassi, second best team out there, so I am extremely pleased, very happy,” Servia said. “I hope we keep the momentum going and are able to do good things. I think we could contend for a championship if we had been able to start the season together, so that’s what I am hoping.”
Mario Moraes brought the Azul-KVRT Racing car home in fifth, driving forcefully to overcome an early pit stop error which forced him to make an extra stop.
Briscoe’s Costly Error
Ryan Briscoe was basically given the win, by a stroke of luck, when he pitted from first place on lap 106, just as Mike Conway lost control and crashed exiting Turn Three. Briscoe had just made it to the pit lane when the yellow flag came out, closing the pits. Briscoe was free to pit and rejoin the race still in the lead, while everyone else would have to wait until the pits opened. However, Briscoe gave the car too much gas leaving the pits and crashed into the pit wall, damaging his suspension. He lost several laps getting repairs, and threw away a perfect chance to seal the championship.
“I think I played it perfectly. I was saving fuel and I went one or two laps further than the Ganassi guys, and the yellow came out while we were in pit lane. I knew it was a huge opportunity to have the lead of the race. As I left the pits, I thought I was going to be racing Scott to the blend line [the line separating pit lane from the track.] I just gave her a bit too much throttle as I transitioned onto the tarmac It just spun me around It caught me by surprise,” said Briscoe. “There are no excuses. I had a bit too much throttle. Fortunately, I had a points lead coming into here; we’re not coming out of this too badly. It’s only eight points. All it takes is to win Homestead and that should be enough to win the championship. I am already pumped up about it.”
Briscoe said he would not let the lost opportunity slow him down. “I am very frustrated right now with myself—there is no one to blame but myself here. But I am already looking towards Homestead. I am pretty excited that it’s only eight points. After a mistake like that it probably should be more (grinning,) but it certainly gives me a chance in Homestead to redeem myself. We are certainly in a very good position to win the championship. So that’s going to be my focus for the next couple of weeks.”
Championship Goes Down to the Wire
The chase for the championship goes down to the wire again this year. A win for Ryan Briscoe at Homestead would give him the championship, unless defending champion Scott Dixon finished second, and also won the pole and led the most laps, in which case he would win by a single point. A win for Dixon would win him the series; but a win by Dario Franchitti, who is only five points behind his teammate, would give Franchitti the championship.
Of course, anyone could win; Moraes, Rahal, Justin Wilson, any driver might seize the day. And anyone might crash, or break, or simply make a mistake or have a bad car or a bad day. All that is certain is that three drivers will be racing all-out for the championship win in the season’s final race.
The season finale, the Firestone Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, starts at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 10. Visit the Homestead-Miami Speedway Web site for ticket information.
| Championship Points | |||
|
| Driver | Pts. | Gap |
| 1 | 570 |
| |
| 2 | 565 | -5 | |
| 3 | 562 | -8 | |
| 4 | 403 | -167 | |
| 5 | 381 | -189 | |
| 6 | 368 | 202 | |
| 7 | 366 | -204 | |
| 8 | 354 | -216 | |
| 9 | 342 | -228 | |
| 10 | 334 | -236 | |
| Indy Japan 300 Final Results | ||||||
|
| # | Driver | Team | Laps | Status | Pts. |
| 1 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Target Chip Ganassi Racing | 200 | Running | 53 |
| 2 | 10 | Dario Franchitti | Lifelock | 200 | Running | 40 |
| 3 | 02 | Graham Rahal | McDonald’s Racing Team | 200 | Running | 35 |
| 4 | 06 | Oriol Servia | Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing | 200 | Running | 32 |
| 5 | 5 | Mario Moraes | Azul Tequila/Votorantim/KVRT | 200 | Running | 30 |
| 6 | 7 | Danica Patrick | Boost Mobile/Motorola | 200 | Running | 28 |
| 7 | 26 | Marco Andretti | Team Venom Energy | 200 | Running | 26 |
| 8 | 4 | Dan Wheldon | National Guard Panther Racing | 200 | Running | 24 |
| 9 | 2 | Raphael Matos | U.S. Air Force Luczo Dragon Racing | 200 | Running | 22 |
| 10 | 3 | Helio Castroneves | Team Penske | 199 | Running | 20 |
| 11 | 11 | Tony Kanaan | Team 7-Eleven | 199 | Running | 19 |
| 12 | 18 | Justin Wilson | Z-Line Designs | 199 | Running | 18 |
| 13 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | Vision/William Rast/Lilly Racing | 198 | Running | 17 |
| 14 | 27 | Hideki Mutoh | Formula Dream | 198 | Running | 16 |
| 15 | 13 | E.J. Viso | PDVSA HVM Racing | 198 | Running | 15 |
| 16 | 33 | Robert Doornbos | HVM Racing | 198 | Running | 14 |
| 117 | 34 | Kosuke Matsuura | Click Securities/Conquest Racing | 195 | Running | 13 |
| 18 | 6 | Ryan Briscoe | Team Penske | 185 | Running | 12 |
| 19 | 98 | Stanton Barrett | Interush Racing | 182 | Running | 12 |
| 20 | 43 | Roger Yasukawa | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 172 | Running | 12 |
| 21 | 14 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | ABC Supply Co. AJ Foyt Racing | 157 | Contact | 12 |
| 22 | 24 | Mike Conway | Charter Media/Dreyer & Reinbold | 103 | Contact | 12 |
| 23 | 23 | Tomas Scheckter | Mona Vie/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 83 | Mechanical | 12 |
