Bump day: Relief as 500 gets full grid

While it didn't have the drama of past bump days, Sunday's session did have a fair amount of uncertainty.

"There is a little different feel to it," said Jimmy Vasser, who was third-fastest of the day and will start 27th in the race. "When I was a rookie here, I got bumped out and had to bump my way back in again. Usually there are some cars left in line and some broken hearts and broken egos."

The race has not started with fewer than 33 cars since 1947, when a partially averted strike by drivers shortened the field to 30 cars. Some 11th-hour wheeling and dealing this weekend helped save the day

The two most significant deals involved two of the best teams in the Indy Racing League. Pennzoil Panther Racing rolled out a third car for Robby McGehee, and Marlboro Team Penske leased one of its cars to Sam Schmidt Motorsports to get Richie Hearn into the race.

"To find a last-minute ride and it's this one? It's like winning the lottery," Hearn said. "I always feel like we're playing musical chairs here when it comes to getting a ride. The music stops and I'm the only one standing. This time everything worked out right."

The session opened with five drivers qualifying in succession. After Shigeaki Hattori, Billy Boat, Vasser, Jimmy Kite and Airton Dare put cars in the field, a complete trip had been made through the qualifying line. Alex Barron, who held out, then went on the track and posted the fastest average of the day - 227.274mph.

Barron, who's replacing Arie Luyendyk in the Mo Nunn Racing Toyota/Panoz G Force, said he didn't sense any difference between a typical bump day and a bumpless one.

"For me, there's really not any difference," Barron said. "I felt that I had a really strong car to go out there and qualify. It never felt any different for me because I knew I had a fast car."

After Barron, Hearn put his car in the field, followed by McGehee, who wasn't fitted for a seat in the Panther squad until Friday.