Scott Dixon, who entered the seventh annual race at the 1.52-mile oval 32 points behind Briscoe in the standings, gave Target Chip Ganassi Racing its first victory in Japan. Teammate Dario Franchitti was 1.4475 seconds back. Graham Rahal finished third to tie his career high on an oval, and Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing teammate Oriol Servia tied his IndyCar Series best finish in fourth place.
Briscoe,was credited with 18th place. So it will be a shootout in the season finale for the fourth consecutive year, with Dixon pacing the contenders with 570 points. Franchitti has 565 and Briscoe has 562.
That's the second-closest 1-3 gap in series history (2003) and the 14th change atop the standings in the 16 races. The last time Dixon and Franchitti finished 1-2 - at Richmond in late June - Briscoe finished a season-low 19th after smacking the wall at the exit of Turn 2.
"Tremendous day for Team Target," said Dixon, the pole sitter who moved into a tie for 16th place on the all-time open-wheel racing victory list with 22 (joining Tony Bettenhausen, Emerson Fittipaldi, Helio Castroneves and Franchitti). "It's what we needed to do.
"It's a track I've always wanted to win at. I remember coming here in the early years and competing for different engine manufacturers and how much emphasis is put on this race. Definitely a good day for points and I'm very happy."
In 2007 and '08, Dixon entered the finale as the hunter and hunted.
"It doesn't matter to me where I am, just as long we come out on top," he said.
Briscoe was the race leader and was about to go a lap up on the field -- which would have put him in command -- as he was on pit road for a scheduled stop when the yellow flag flew for the No. 24 Charter Media/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing driven by Mike Conway making contact with the SAFER Barrier between Turns 3 and 4 on the egg-shaped oval. Briscoe, still the race leader as the field was frozen, continued for three laps -- with the cone under the suspension - until being called in for an cone-ectomy, nose replacement, four fresh Firestone Firehawks and a load of fuel.
Briscoe returned to the pit stall on Lap 111 to have the crew make repairs to the left-front suspension.
"It was pretty frustrating," Briscoe said. "I just gassed it too much leaving my box, and the car spun. I hit the wall. We had to change the front upright. The team did a great job doing it in the time they did, but unfortunately that was our day done pretty much. Just sort of brought the car home without pushing too hard at the end.
"The good thing is that it's only eight points to Scott. I feel real good going into Homestead. We've been strong on all the (1.5-mile ovals) this year. Ganassi had the upper hand on us this weekend. Homestead, Team Penske I'm confident is going to be the team to beat.
"Eight points is the difference between first and second. It looks like is it's going to be a pretty tough battle to see who can win the race."
Mario Moraes, who started on the front row for the first time in his 30-plus races, scrambled late in the race to wind up fifth - his third consecutive top five.
"I am happy for the KV Racing Technology team," said Moraes, who was running 18th on Lap 84. "On the first pit stop we had a problem refueling and had to come back in for more fuel. That put us two laps down. But the whole team fought back and we got some luck with a yellow flag to get back on the lead lap in fuel sequence and finished fifth. I am also looking forward to going to Homestead. I think we are going to have a very good car there, so we can finish the season off really strong."
Danica Patrick, who won at Twin Ring Motegi last year, finished sixth and Andretti Green Racing teammate Marco Andretti advanced seven positions from his 14th starting position. Dan Wheldon, a two-time winner of the race, was running third on Lap 155 and finished eighth.
"Today wasn't a bad showing for the Venom boys, especially considering our starting position," Andretti said. "A better qualifying run obviously would have made our day a lot easier, but we were able to work through some traffic and make the best it. Had that last yellow fallen a couple laps later, I think it would have been a much brighter outcome for the No. 26 car, but you can't depend on yellows."
That came on Lap 160, when the No. 14 ABC Supply Co. car driven by Ryan Hunter-Reay made contact with the Turn 4 SAFER Barrier. Dixon held off Franchitti on the restart and wasn't challenged the remainder of the race.
Raphael Matos took another step to the Rookie of the Year award with a ninth-place finish, while Castroneves moved up 11 spots to 10th after crashing in qualifying. Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan also made a major move - from the 23rd starting position (the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven car failed post-qualifying technical inspection) to 11th.
