Catchfence

Danica Patrick notched her only IndyCar victory on Japanese soil, and for a while it looked like Japanese teammate Hideki Mutoh might claim his first victory in Richmond.

The Andretti Green teammates were one and two for a short while, but a pit strategy that had them zigging while the rest of the field zagged left Mutoh in an unlucky fourth, with Patrick right behind him.

“Not today,” Mutoh said with a smile and a shrug. “We needed more luck, you know?”

At issue was Ryan Briscoe’s Lap 27 caution. Virtually every car in the field took a pit stop except Mutoh and Patrick. Their fuel mileage took them more than 100 laps before they needed to pit, meaning they would only need two pit stops compared to the three that every other car took.

But an unlucky caution thrown when Helio Castroneves spun out meant the rest of the field would be able to take that third pit stop without losing a lap.

- Richmond Times Dispatch