INDY 500 Drivers play it safe, make a full field

The final day of qualifying featured little drama or suspense.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Filling out the Indianapolis 500 field was little more than a formality.
There was no bumping Sunday. And no drama.
Tom Carnegie, the longtime track announcer, kept the small crowd updated in the final hour about how much time remained for another driver to make one last run in the last qualifying round.
It never came. The only sounds in the garages were teams packing for home.
Not that there wasn't apprehension among the drivers.
"You still have some butterflies because you still have to qualify to get in the race and bad things can happen," said Jimmy Vasser, who had no trouble getting in the field with a four-lap average of 226.873 mph.
Extra caution
The excitement ended Friday when teams scrambled to avoid having fewer than 33 cars for the first time since 1947. There were nine open spots after last weekend's time trials and nine driver-car combinations ready to go on the final day of qualifying.
Drivers played it safe with their four-lap attempts Sunday, taking the 21/2-mile oval early in case of rain. The weather was never a factor, with mostly clear conditions and temperatures in the 60s.
There were no crashes and mechanical trouble wasn't significant enough to knock anybody out.
Billy Boat, the slowest qualifier the last two years, made the May 25 race with a speed of 225.598. He missed qualifying last weekend when he crashed, and wasn't taking anything for granted Sunday.
"Our intention was to put it in the first day, but after the incident that I had, it didn't happen," he said. "It just seems like my luck has steered me to this day, and you have to take what it gives. Sometimes it doesn't give you a choice."
On the bubble
The bubble driver entering Sunday was Sarah Fisher, the only woman in the field and the slowest of 24 first-day qualifiers with a four-lap average of 224.170. She finally practiced in her backup car in case she was knocked out of the starting lineup, but it wasn't needed.
"I'm so relieved this day is over," Fisher said. "It's been one of the longest days in my life. It's a big load off my mind not to have to worry anymore about being bumped, and just to focus on the Indianapolis 500."
Airton Dare's average of 223.609 was slower than Fisher's, meaning Dare would have been the first one knocked out of the starting grid once the 33 spots were filled.
Dare considered waving off his first attempt, but kept on going when he didn't hear from his team.
Though none of the nine cars approached the 230s of last weekend's qualifying, the field average of 227.125 was the third-fastest ever at Indianapolis.
Alex Barron replaced injured two-time Indy winner Arie Luyendyk for Mo Nunn Racing and went 227.274 -- the fastest on Bump Day. It was fast enough for Barron, who feared for most of the month he'd be without a ride.
"To walk in here on Opening Day and not have a ride, it's very frustrating," he said. "The last couple of days, I was a bit edgy for sure. It was hard to have a conversation because everybody asked you, 'You got anything going?' After a while, it's kind of like a broken record."