Indianapolis 500 field filled

INDIANAPOLIS -- Arie Luyendyk led a surprising speed show Sunday that filled a record-setting field for the Indianapolis 500 before rain cut short the last day of qualifying.

Despite occasional showers that eventually ended the session 65 minutes early, the track conditions at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway were the best since practice resumed Wednesday.

Luyendyk, a two-time Indy winner, took advantage to post a four-lap average of 228.848 mph, the fastest of the day.

"The conditions were perfect and the car handled well," an obviously relieved Luyendyk said after taking the 24th spot in the 33-car field for the May 26 race.

In all, 11 cars completed 10-mile qualifying runs Sunday, with unusual circumstances making Billy Roe the first driver bumped from the Indy field twice in the same car since Jim McElreath in 1971.

With 32 of the 33 starting positions filled, the rookie gambled on the possibility that rain would wash out the rest of the day and get him into the race with a slow four-lap run of 212.283.

It didn't work, as fellow first-year Indy driver George Mack, only the second black competitor to race at Indy, bumped Roe out of the lineup minutes later with a 227.150.

Minutes later, Roe found himself back in the field after Michael Andretti, one of 24 drivers who qualified on May 11, the first of three scheduled days of time trials, decided his first-day speed of 226.780 was in jeopardy of being bumped.

"Guys we didn't expect to go quicker than our car were out there going a lot faster because the conditions were so good," said Andretti, the son of 1969 Indy winner Mario Andretti. "We knew we had a pretty fast car, so we thought we had better go out and do it now."

Andretti did, withdrawing his primary car and momentarily putting Roe back into the field before racing his backup Dallara around the 2 1/2-mile oval at 228.713 and sending Roe to the sidelines again.

The rest of the bump day drama was played out with everyone eyeing the sky and waiting to see if the rain that began pelting down moments later would end in time for more qualifying attempts.

It didn't, leaving Jimmy Kite waiting in line for a qualifying opportunity that never came.

Billy Boat was the main beneficiary of the early closing. His 226.589 from the opening day of qualifying was the slowest in the field, the third straight year that Boat has barely survived Indy Bump Day to start from the last of 11 three-car rows.

"It's unbelievable," said Boat, whose crew had quickly rebuilt his backup car after he crashed in the Sunday morning practice. "Those guys did an incredible job getting the car back together. Thanks to Mother Nature, we didn't need to use it."

Led by Bruno Junqueira's pole-winning speed of 231.342, the field average of 228.648 broke the previous mark of 227.807 set in 1996, the last year that turbocharged engines were allowed.

"I'd say the field is probably as strong as it's ever been," said Luyendyk, who holds the race and qualifying speed records here. "You have to have your act together. It's becoming tougher and tougher because you really have to have everything organized."