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Sunday, 19 September 2010 02:00 |
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Page 1 of 2  Helio Castroneves passed Team Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe on a Lap 118 pit stop and held on to win the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi to claim his second victory in a row and second win at the 1.5 mile track.
 "Team Penske is about execution and they gave me a fantastic car. Every time I wanted to go for it, the car was responding," said Castroneves, who backed up his win at Kentucky Speedway with the dominating win from the pole.
Dario Franchitti beat Will Power to the finish line by 0.4997 of a second to claim second place and close the championship points gap to 12 heading into the season finale October 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
This is the fifth consecutive year that the championship will be determined at the final race of the season.
"It's great for us to put the Verizon car on the podium. I've never finished ahead of him (Dario) on an oval and one day I'll get it, hopefully this year because if I don't, he'll win (the championship)," said Power.
The second place finish also earned Franchitti the inaugural IZOD IndyCar Series A.J. Foyt Oval Championship.
Briscoe finished fourth, matching a career best finish at Motegi and Danica Patrick was fifth, further extending her series record for consecutive races running at the finish to 32.
 INDY JAPAN 300 RACE DAY NOTES:
- "Call me Chops," Tetsuo Kuramochi says as he delivers tires to the A.J. Foyt pit box four hours before the Indy Japan 300.
Sure, everyone else does at Twin Ring Motegi.
"It's so much fun for me and a great opportunity every year," says Chops with his brother, Naoki, in tow for the day "Another body on race day is always needed."
"Every day I try to let Japanese people know how great the IZOD IndyCar Series is so they can enjoy it at the track and when they watch on TV. I also want to pay back to (the Foyt team) for the opportunity they gave me."
Chops began assisting the team at the track in 2003, riding his scooter an hour each way from his home in Utsunomiya, and he has returned as an honorary crew member every year.
Now 24 years old and working as a test driver for PSG, a company that tests Honda street cars, he still resides in Utsunomiya.
In 2005, Chops flew to San Francisco to take in the inaugural IZOD IndyCar Series race at Infineon Raceway and attended the Indianapolis 500 in 2006 and even rode in the transporter from Indy to Watkins Glen "to see America up close."
OK, about the nickname: Back in the day, Kuramochi helped the American crew members learn to use chop sticks at the welcome dinner.
"I like the nickname, it is something most people in Japan don't have and it's much easier to remember for foreign people," he says.
- A.J. Foyt IV and his wife, Casey, welcomed their first child on Sept. 18. Of course, their son's name is Anthony Joseph Foyt V.
- "This is our Pinewood Derby car," IZOD IndyCar Series team owner Dale Coyne says as the first group of Boy Scouts arrives at his team's garage at Twin Ring Motegi. "It's just a little faster than the one you may build."
Coyne, who fields the #19 Boy Scouts of America car driven by Alex Lloyd, played host to about 450 Boy Scouts from the BSA's Far East Council prior to the Indy Japan 300.
Many of the Scouts are the children of U.S. Military personnel stationed in Japan and the group enjoyed the unique opportunity to get a behind the scenes look at an IZOD IndyCar Series team.
"We have American Scouts and Japanese Scouts here to learn a bit more about racing and this exposure to the sport will pay big dividends, especially to the youth as we get them excited about maths and science," said Eric Moore, who manages the Boy Scouts of America's Motorsports Program.
"The Far East Council has done some exceptional work and we wanted to use this as an opportunity to say thank you for what they are doing here for the Scouts."
Lloyd, who was a Boy Scout in his native England, thanks the Japanese based Scouts for their support of him during the race.
For the first time this season on ovals, Takuma Sato didn't have Roger Yasukawa as his chief spotter. Yasukawa also was competing in the Indy Japan 300. Nick Harvey filled in in the spotter stand.
 INDY JAPAN 300 POST RACE NOTES:
· Pole sitter Helio Castroneves is the winner of the Indy Japan 300. This is Castroneves' second win at Twin Ring Motegi. He previously won at the track in 2006. This is Castroneves third win this season, winning at Barber and Kentucky earlier this year.
· Castroneves led 153 laps, clinching the two bonus points for most laps led along with the bonus point for the Peak Performance Pole Award. He becomes the IZOD IndyCar Series all time lap leader today, breaking the record held by Sam Hornish Jr of 3428. Castroneves has led 3487 laps.
· Dario Franchitti finished second, matching a career best finish at Motegi. Franchitti finished second at Motegi in 2000 and 2009.
· Franchitti won the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series AJ Foyt Oval Champion.
· Franchitti now trails Will Power by 12 points in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship battle.
· Power finished third in his first start at Twin Ring Motegi. Motegi ends Power's streak of ten consecutive races of leading laps.
· Ryan Briscoe finished fourth, matching a career best at the track. He finished fourth in 2009.
· Danica Patrick finished fifth, extending her record streak of races running at the finish to 32.
· 2009 race winner Scott Dixon finished sixth. Both Dixon and Castroneves have been eliminated from the IZOD IndyCar Series championship hunt.
INDY JAPAN 300 RACE RESULTS:
| Pos. |
Started |
Driver |
Car |
Laps |
Status |
| 1. |
1 |
Helio Castroneves |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 2. |
4 |
Dario Franchitti |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 3. |
3 |
Will Power |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 4. |
2 |
Ryan Briscoe |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 5. |
12 |
Danica Patrick |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 6. |
11 |
Scott Dixon |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 7. |
6 |
Tony Kanaan |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 8. |
16 |
Graham Rahal |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 9. |
7 |
Ryan Hunter-Reay |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 10. |
9 |
Dan Wheldon |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 11. |
5 |
Marco Andretti |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 12. |
10 |
Takuma Sato |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 13. |
23 |
Alex Tagliani |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 14. |
17 |
Hideki Mutoh |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 15. |
8 |
EJ Viso |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 16. |
18 |
Justin Wilson |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 17. |
14 |
Vitor Meira |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 18. |
19 |
Raphael Matos |
Dallara-Honda |
200 |
Running |
| 19. |
25 |
Milka Duno |
Dallara-Honda |
197 |
Running |
| 20. |
21 |
Roger Yasukawa |
Dallara-Honda |
195 |
Running |
| 21. |
15 |
Alex Lloyd |
Dallara-Honda |
131 |
Contact |
| 22. |
22 |
Paul Tracy |
Dallara-Honda |
114 |
Contact |
| 23. |
24 |
Simona de Silvestro |
Dallara-Honda |
85 |
Mechanical |
| 24. |
20 |
Mario Moraes |
Dallara-Honda |
66 |
Contact |
| 25. |
13 |
Bertrand Baguette |
Dallara-Honda |
1 |
Contact |
INDY JAPAN 300 RACE STATISTICS:
- Winners average speed: 147.008
- Time of Race: 02:04:04.4780
- Margin of victory: 4.5746 seconds
- Cautions: 4 for 50 laps
- Lead changes: 3 among 3 drivers
- Lap Leaders: Castroneves 1-70, Matos 71-85, Briscoe 86-117, Castroneves 118-200.
- Point Standings: Power 587, Franchitti 575, Castroneves 501, Dixon 497, Briscoe 450, Hunter-Reay 426, Kanaan 418, Wheldon 366, Andretti 366, Wilson 349.
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