Matos fastest in second qualifying

But the big drama of the session came at the other end of the field, as Panther Racing's Scott Sharp squeezed in at the expense of EJ Viso in the final seconds with his third qualifying attempt of the day.

Having failed to qualify yesterday following a Friday practice crash, Sharp was twice bumped out of the pack today before finally getting in a last-gasp attempt just as the gun fired to mark the end of second qualifying at 6pm local time. He duly grabbed 20th, and can now concentrate on the Miller Motorsports Park American Le Mans Series race next weekend as planned rather than still having to qualify for Indy.

Luczo Dragon driver Matos' 223.429mph run would have put him a superb seventh on the grid had he produced it yesterday, although with less wind at the track today the conditions were arguably better than on Pole Day.

"It's hard to compare like that because the conditions were definitely worse yesterday," he admitted. "It doesn't matter because we made a change in the car overnight and the change worked, and that's what counts."

Paul Tracy also comfortably booked a place in the starting line-up by taking 13th for KV Racing - after asking permission from sponsor Geico to use another set of tyres having been disappointed with his first qualifying run of the day.

"The format makes your mouth dry and your nerves get up," Tracy said. "To do it once is OK, but having to hang on four or eight or 12 times is a different story."

Foyt driver Vitor Meira took 14th, with Justin Wilson (Dale Coyne Racing) the fastest of those relying on just one qualifying run as he claimed 15th. He had initially been 12th, before being pushed back as Matos, Tracy and Meira withdrew their initial times and tried again.

Row six will be shared by Hideki Mutoh (Andretti Green), Ed Carpenter (Vision) and 2005 race winner Dan Wheldon (Panther) - the latter making up for crashing on a qualifying lap yesterday.

Series returnee AJ Foyt IV took 19th on his second qualifying attempt, having earlier brushed the wall on his first run.

Davey Hamilton was the sole member of the Dreyer & Reinbold quartet to get into the field today, taking 22nd behind Sharp and Sarah Fisher.

Hamilton's team-mate John Andretti was bumped out of the day's top 11 and then crashed on a practice lap before he could try to qualify again. Milka Duno was too slow to make the cut today, while Mike Conway spent the afternoon in hospital for observation, having bruised his lungs in his morning practice accident.

Viso spent much of the afternoon 'on the bubble' in 22nd, and was only finally knocked out when Sharp raised his game for his final run.

Following their crashes yesterday both Nelson Philippe (HVM) and Robert Doornbos (Newman/Haas/Lanigan) had to sit out today's session and will rely on getting in the field on the final weekend.

Ryan Hunter-Reay waved off a late qualifying attempt for Vision Racing, as his lack of pace from practice continued. Alex Tagliani's qualifying effort was also too slow, despite his Conquest team doing a fine job to get the car rebuilt in time for a last-gasp run after his accident in the warm-up.

The final 11 places on the 33-car grid will be set next weekend. Although only 31 cars have practiced so far, several additional entries are expected to join for the second week, including Townsend Bell in a third KV car, Oriol Servia with Rahal Letterman Racing, and 1996 winners Buddy Lazier and Hemelgarn Racing.

Current Indianapolis 500 grid:

Pos  Driver             Team                 Speed
 1.  Helio Castroneves  Penske               224.864mph
 2.  Ryan Briscoe       Penske               224.083mph
 3.  Dario Franchitti   Ganassi              224.010mph
 4.  Graham Rahal       Newman/Haas/Lanigan  223.954mph
 5.  Scott Dixon        Ganassi              223.867mph
 6.  Tony Kanaan        Andretti Green       223.612mph
 7.  Mario Moraes       KV                   223.331mph
 8.  Marco Andretti     Andretti Green       223.114mph
 9.  Will Power         Penske               223.028mph
10.  Danica Patrick     Andretti Green       222.882mph
11.  Alex Lloyd         Schmidt/Ganassi      222.622mph
12.  Raphael Matos      Luczo Dragon         223.429mph
13.  Paul Tracy         KV                   223.111mph
14.  Vitor Meira        Foyt                 223.054mph
15.  Justin Wilson      Coyne                222.903mph
16.  Hideki Mutoh       Andretti Green       222.805mph
17.  Ed Carpenter       Vision               222.780mph
18.  Dan Wheldon        Panther              222.777mph
19.  AJ Foyt IV         Foyt                 222.586mph
20.  Scott Sharp        Panther              222.162mph
21.  Sarah Fisher       Fisher               222.082mph
22.  Davey Hamilton     Dreyer & Reinbold    221.956mph