Danica Patrick, a pin-up girl of auto racing, became IndyCar's first female winner on Sunday by taking the Indy Japan 300 in her 50th start in the series.
The 26-year-old American covered 200 laps at the Twin Ring Motegi in 1hour51min02.6739 to beat Helio Castroneves of Brazil and Scott Dixon of New Zealand.
They were followed home by Dan Wheldon of Britain and Tony Kanaan of Brazil.
"Finally! This was a long time coming," Patrick said. "It was a fuel strategy race and my team called it perfectly.
"I know I was on the same strategy at Helio (Castroneves) and I couldn't believe itwhen I passed him for the lead . This is fabulous."
Dixon had a 3.6sec lead with six laps left but had to pit for fuel. Wheldon and Kanaan had to follow suit on lap 196 and that left the door open for Patrick and Castroneves, whose last pit stop had been on lap 148.
The Motegi event was the third leg of the 16-round Indy Racing League series. - AFP