Danica Patrick claimed her first victory and became the first woman to win an IndyCar race when she won the Indy Japan 300 over the weekend. She took the lead from Helio Castroneves on the 198th lap of the 200 lap race. She cites her team's fuel strategy as the reason for the victory. She made her last fill-up on lap 148, and was able to make it to the end of the race while all the others had to pit and could not afford to refill their cars again.

The problem for the other racers in pit row was the rising cost of gas, which started the race at an already high $3.54. It made trouble for the poor team of Mario Moraes, who could only afford 1/4 of a tank of gas to start. He also made the unwise decision of going into the store to pay for the fuel and ended up buying a bag of Funyuns and a Red Bull, spending the rest of his team's money. He ran out of gas after 5 laps.

Other teams were able to make it to near the end of the race, but eventually had to come in to pit for more fuel. Castroneves came in to find the cost of gas had risen to $4.12 by the 198th lap. He tried to pay at the pump using his credit card, but it was declined and over it's limit. He tried taking donations quickly from crowd, but the race was already won by then.

Danica thanked her team for it's wise fuel strategy, and Mastercard for giving her such a high credit limit, allowing her to charge all the fuel she wanted. Castroneves has said he is considering running a Prius hybrid in the upcoming Indianapolis 500. Despite maxing out at around 80 miles per hour, he says the fuel saved may help him stay competitive with the field.