Using a wily fuel strategy devised by team manager Kyle Moyer, Patrick scored an historic first IndyCar Series win, becoming the first female driver to win a major closed-course auto race and removing the self-imposed pressure that has dogged her since reaching the IRL in 2005.

“I feel like such a wuss for crying,” Patrick said in a emotional interview shortly after removing her helmet. “But it’s been a long time coming. … I‘ve worked so hard for this. We‘ve worked so hard for this. Thank God.”

The emotions were the culmination of Patrick’s patience and Moyer’s call to bring Patrick’s No. 7 Andretti Green Racing Honda/Dallara back into the pits with 50 laps left in the race. Only two other drivers tried that strategy—Helio Castroneves and Ed Carpenter—and both were in position to win before falling off when they ran low on fuel.

However, Patrick, who dropped back as far as eighth place after the top-off, stayed with it, passing a fading Castroneves for the lead with little more than two laps to go in the race. After 50 IndyCar races and seven years of formulas and ladder series prior to that, Patrick had accomplished what she wanted most.

“When I actually had to talk on my radio, finally the emotion came out,” Patrick said. “I really couldn’t manage any other words than ‘thank you.‘ And then I was as relieved, as I expected I would be years ago, how I knew I would feel when I won my first race. But I guess over time that feeling has only gotten bigger, and over time I’ve been asked so many times when I’m going to win my first race. Finally, no more of those questions.”

With five laps remaining, Scott Dixon, who had led more than half of the race, dived into the pits to refuel. Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan, running second and third at the time, followed Dixon. That put Castroneves into the lead, but he slowed dramatically heading into the third turn on the 198th lap of the 200-lap race, and Patrick took the lead and the historic victory.

Castroneves said he didn’t know Patrick was passing him for the lead, but admitted he didn’t have enough fuel to battle her late in the race.

“She passed me fair and square,” Castroneves said. “I didn’t have enough fuel even if I wanted to fight with her, and today I guess it’s part of history again.”

Michael Andretti, who hired Patrick away from Rahal Letterman Racing after the 2006 season, praised his driver and acknowledged the historical significance of her win.

“Danica is such a fantastic person, and I’m thrilled for her that the monkey is finally off of her back,” Andretti said. “We have all believed in her and she proved today that she is a winner. Frankly, I think this is the first of many.”

Patrick’s dad, T.J. Patrick, who discovered his daughter’s ability to drive go-karts and spent more than a decade helping her pursue big-time racing, fought back tears as he hugged her after the race.

“This is the best day of my life,“ T.J. Patrick said. “I’ve dreamt about it. I’m just so proud of her. She gets a lot of grief for it, but she just proved to everyone that she can win. There’s a lot more to come.”

After the win, Patrick repeatedly credited Moyer with the call to come in and top off on the 150th lap. The leaders had all pitted shortly after a yellow for a crash by Roger Yasukawa on the 142nd lap, but Patrick, Castroneves and Carpenter all came in one more time during the caution.

“I did feel like it was fast near the end, and I was managing to keep the speed up while saving fuel,” Patrick said. “I heard from Kyle that all I needed to beat was Helio. I knew during that last stint I’d been saving a little more than he had. I knew he was the one to beat, but I didn’t want to make the mistake of not pushing hard enough to get by him.”

Castroneves held on for second to keep the IndyCar Series lead by 12 points over Dixon, who finished third. Wheldon was fourth, Kanaan fifth, Carpenter sixth and Ryan Hunter-Reay seventh.

Dixon appeared to be in position to win but knew he’d have to pit before the end of the race. The only hope was that the drivers who tried the late top-off wouldn’t have enough to get to the finish line ahead of him.

“When you’re leading or you’re in front of the next competitor that’s on the same strategy, you’re the sitting duck,” Dixon said. “Nine times out of 10, you’re going to lose it. But we did our best today, and I think we had a fast car, and we just came up short.”

When the champagne had been sprayed and everyone had been thanked, Patrick realized that she had achieved a moment in sports history, one that she had anticipated and wanted for a long time.

“It may have been a little anticlimactic,” she said. “It was kind of like, ‘It happened.’ Then I was like, ‘Yea! Did it really happen? I’m first for sure?’ And then obviously the emotion came out.”

Obviously, the comparisons to Anna Kournikova are over. She's no longer the most overhyped athlete in sports, and of course, how big is this for the IndyCar Series? I know one thing. I'm glad I already have my tickets and hotel reservations for the Indy 500, because the excitement for this year's running, already huge with unification, has just hit a new high.

Following Sunday’s Champ Car finale at Long Beach, the IndyCar Series resumes next weekend at Kansas Speedway.

Indy Japan 300 results:

1) Danica Patrick, Andretti Green, 200 laps
2) Helio Castroneves, Penske, 200, +5.8594 seconds
3) Scott Dixon, Target Ganassi, 200
4) Dan Wheldon, Target Ganassi, 200
5) Tony Kanaan, Andretti Green, 200
6) Ed Carpenter Vision, 200
7) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Rahal Letterman, 200
8) Darren Manning, Foyt, 199
9) Ryan Briscoe, Penske, 199
10) Townsend Bell, Dreyer & Reinbold, 199
11) Hideki Mutoh, Andretti Green, 199
12) Buddy Rice, Dreyer & Reinbold, 198
13) Jay Howard, Roth, 192
14) Roger Yasukawa, Beck, 134, mechanical
15) A.J. Foyt IV, Vision, 103, accident
16) Vitor Meira, Panther, 92, accident
17) Marty Roth, Roth, 44, accident
18) Marco Andretti, Andretti Green, 0, accident

Source: “INDYCAR: Danica Breaks Through in Japan,” Jeff Olson, RACER Magazine, April 20, 2008