Late push puts pair in Indy 500 lineup

INDIANAPOLIS — John Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay provided the drama Sunday, saving their best efforts for the final 10 minutes at the end of four days of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.

Both wound up in the 33-car field for Sunday’s race, thanks to their gutsy qualifying runs with time running out on another emotional "Bump Day" on the famed 2.5-mile Brickyard oval.

Andretti and Hunter-Reay, whose successful qualifying effort was under way as the gun went off ending the six-hour final session of time trials, both had to find more speed after being bumped from the lineup earlier in the day.

Hunter-Reay said he considered himself lucky just to make the race after bumping out Las Vegas resident and Indy rookie Alex Tagliani.

Andretti put up four straight laps over 221 mph for an average of 221.316 that placed him 28th in the field and bumped out the 220.413 that Hunter-Reay had posted earlier in the day.

Hunter-Reay then drove onto the track with two minutes until the gun, knowing he had to beat Tagliani’s 220.553 from Saturday or go home.

He barely made it, with four laps over 220 and a 220.597 average — just 0.044 seconds quicker than Tagliani over 10 miles, knocking him from the field.

Hours after qualifying ended, Conquest Racing owner Eric Bachelart announced that Tagliani would replace Bruno Junqueira, who qualified 30th, in the team’s primary car.

• NHRA — At Bristol, Tenn., Tony Schumacher raced to his third Top Fuel victory of the season, beating Doug Kalitta in the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.

Schumacher crossed the finish line in 3.857 seconds at 310.91 mph to edge Kalitta, whose dragster trailed at 3.879 at 303.43.

Del Worsham (Funny Car) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) won their respective divisions.

• BULLRING — Jeff Connors held off Dustin Ash by two-tenths of a second late Saturday to win the Super Late Models 40-lap feature race in the NASCAR All-American Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Bullring.

Five laps into in the race, Fabian Bray and Joe Deguevara were collected in a fiery crash with Dusty Davis after Davis spun exiting the fourth turn. Deguevara suffered an ankle injury, and Davis injured his left shoulder. Neither was hospitalized.

In the SuperClean Modified Series, Andrew Phipps of Simi Valley, Calif., won the 75-lap feature. Other winners in major divisions were Jared Carpenter (Thunder Roadsters), Dallas Simonette (Bombers) and Dylan Kwasniewski (Legends Cards).