INDYCAR (MOTEGI) - INDYCAR (MOTEGI) - Kanaan Wins Indy Japan 300 in Team 7-Eleven Car

Team 7-Eleven driver Tony Kanaan outsmarted his competitors by conserving as much fuel as possible while still running at the front and claimed his eighth career IndyCar Series victory at Saturday's running of the Indy Japan 300. The win moved Kanaan into second place in the IndyCar Series driver championship, three points out of the lead. Starting third, Kanaan took a cautious approach to the race while always running in the top five. While conserving fuel, Kanaan was consistently the last driver to make pit stops during green-flag racing. The strategy ultimately paid off for Kanaan as he made his final pit stop on lap 191 of 200. Only taking on a few gallons of fuel, he was able to make it back out of the pits before second-place driver Dan Wheldon, who pitted only a few laps prior to Kanaan, could get in front of the Team 7-Eleven car. Those extra few laps gained Kanaan seconds in the pits by needing to take less fuel than Wheldon. The win moves Kanaan into a tie for the fifth-most victories in IndyCar Series history. Wheldon finished the race in second place followed by Kanaan's AGR teammate Dario Franchitti in third. Scott Dixon and Sam Hornish Jr. rounded out the top five. Next up on the IndyCar Series schedule is the Kansas Lottery Indy 300 on Sunday, April 29. ESPN2 will provide live broadcast coverage of the 200-lap event beginning at 4:30 p.m. (EDT). The race can also be heard live on XM Satellite Radio, XM channel 145, the exclusive home of the IndyCar Series.

Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "I'm very happy and it feels good to bring the Team 7-Eleven car to victory lane because Dan (Wheldon) was really, really strong. It was fun to have a battle with a friend. It's great to fight clean the way we did throughout the entire race. We passed each other with no problems at all. The Team 7-Eleven crew did a great job today and I'm happy for everyone at Andretti Green Racing."

Eric Cowdin, Race Engineer, #11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "This is a great win for Andretti Green Racing. TK drove a great race and the guys in the pits gave him flawless stops each time. We were getting reasonably good fuel mileage compared to the other guys so we were going the longest on fuel among the front runners. We thought Dan (Wheldon) had short fueled so we thought he'd have to stop before us. Once Dan stopped, it was a matter of TK pushing the Team 7-Eleven car to get enough of a gap that we could stop and take less fuel so TK spent less time sitting in the pits compared to Dan."