Ray boosts Indy grid to 33

"We don't have a primary sponsor," Ray said. "There is a sequence of events that could make our program fly like a 747 or there's a sequence of events that could make it go the opposite direction. Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Not only was Ray the last qualifier, he was the fastest of Sunday's session. His four-lap average of 216.641mph put him 27th on the grid. Others who qualified Sunday were Richie Hearn, Buddy Lazier, Robby McGehee, Marty Roth, Jeff Simmons and P.J. Jones. A final-hour attempt by NASCAR star Tony Stewart was aborted.

Ray, who nearly won the pole in the previous IRL IndyCar Series race last month in Japan, decided to be conservative instead of trying to make a statement. He needed only to be better than Robby McGehee's 211.631mph average to guarantee his position against a possible bump.

"We had a race motor, race gearbox, race gear stack and race downforce," Ray said. "We had to do the smart thing. We were all champing at the bit, thinking, 'OK, let's just unleash this thing. Let's wick it up and peel off the downforce and go for it' but that really wouldn't prove a point."

The point Sunday, as has been the case on Bump Day in recent years, was the prospect of fewer than 33 cars in the race. In all but one Indy 500 since 1928, that number had been achieved, but recent published comments by IMS and IRL president Tony George indicated he wasn't concerned with having 33 cars in the race.

"There's always been a question about the field being filled, but it hasn't come up short yet," McGehee said. "I'm sure the reason Tony came out and said that was because people kept pressuring him and telling him there weren't going to be 33 cars. Eventually he made a statement on it. The fact of the matter is there were 33 last year and there are 33 this year. It is a tradition, but I don't think it's one we'll need to worry about."

After an announcement Saturday that Simmons would try to qualify the Mo Nunn Racing No. 12T Toyota/Dallara, six cars were confirmed for Sunday's qualifying -- one short of 33. The only question was Ray, whose Access Motorsports team has been struggling to find financing. Had Ray not been able to find the means, Honda reportedly was prepared to offer his engine lease to other teams.

Instead, Ray's team put it together and put the No. 13 in the field.

"We definitely carried a fair amount of stress the last couple of weeks," Ray said. "It wasn't an optimal situation to just jump in the car and go. It's been nerve-wracking. I've been working from sun-up to sundown the past couple of weeks trying to create a better future for our team."

As is usually the case, the best stories of man finding machine surfaced during the final day of qualifying. When Simmons completed his press conference following Saturday's Infiniti race, IRL vice president of operations met him in the lobby to tell him the Mo Nunn deal was on. Shortly after, Simmons was on the track in Tora Takagi's back-up car.

"From that moment until the time I was on the track was a couple of hours," Simmons said. "It happened really fast. We had a lot to do to get ready for today, even."

Simmons turned four laps Sunday at 214.783mph, which secured the 29th starting position.

"It's been a whirlwind 24 hours," Simmons said. "I was joking with the guys that I didn't have a moment to clean my helmet before I qualified, so my picture is going to have a lot of bugs."

Hearn, now focusing on training and promoting younger drivers, put together a late deal with Sam Schmidt, who leased one of Roger Penske's Panoz G Force chassis. Lazier showed some interest in the Schmidt deal, then went with the Dreyer & Reinbold deal. Schmidt turned to Hearn, the veteran of four Indy 500s.

"If I only did one race a year, this would be it," Hearn said. "I would be so happy."

Lazier, the 1996 race winner and 2000 IRL champion, had the fastest Bump Day average - 215.110 mph - until Ray topped it. Lazier will start inside the 10th row. "Even though I'm starting toward the back, it's a long race," Lazier said. "Anything can happen here."

Jones, son of 1963 Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones, put the No. 98 Beck Motorsports Dallara-Chevy in the field in 31st position with an average of 213.355mph.

"If you spend too much time out of these cars, people will forget about you," Jones said. "It's pretty awesome to come here without a ride and have this all come together."