IndyCar - 500 Field Set With Dramatic Bump Day

INDIANAPOLIS, May 22, 2011: Marco Andretti and Alex Lloyd bumped their way into the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 with dramatic qualifying runs in the final 10 minutes of Bump Day qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The two were among 14 drivers seeking to secure one of the nine spots on the 33-car grid in a six-hour session interrupted twice by rain.

With 75 minutes left, Danica Patrick put the No. 7 Team GoDaddy car solidly in the field with a four-lap average of 224.861 mph. But that left teammate Andretti on the bubble while Ryan Hunter-Reay sat 32nd.

Eight drivers failed to gather the necessary consistent speed to force Andretti to re-qualify until Lloyd of Dale Coyne Racing, who finished fourth in the Indy 500 last May, put together an average speed of 223.917 mph. Teammate James Jakes sought to knock Hunter-Reay out, too, but his attempt was waved off after two laps.

That left Andretti as the final contestant. As the gun went off to end the session, so did Andretti on his qualifying attempt. Three minutes later, and with an average speed of 224.628 mph, he jumped to the inside of Row 10. That left his teammate and close friend on the outside for the May 29 race.

The fourth Andretti Autosport driver, Mike Conway, who recovered from a season-ending crash in last year's Indianapolis 500 to win at Long Beach in mid-April also was among the entrants who failed to find the consistent speed.

Also not making the show were Raphael Matos, Sebastian Saavedra and Jakes. Dragon Racing's Ho-Pin Tung and Scott Speed did not complete qualifying attempts.

Lloyd is joined on the last row by rookie Pippa Mann of Conquest Racing and Ana Beatriz of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Andretti will start on Row 10 with rookie Charlie Kimball and Graham Rahal, while Paul Tracy will share Row 9 with Patrick and Ryan Briscoe.

This is the closest matched field by time in Indianapolis 500 history -- 2.5399 seconds separate fastest qualifier Alex Tagliani and slowest qualifier Beatriz. The record was 3.0622 seconds set in 2010.

BUMP DAY NOTEBOOK:

Panther Racing rejoined an old friend and will have a familiar look in the 100th Anniversary of the Indianapolis 500, as the team announced today that Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka has partnered with the team to be the primary sponsor on former Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice's No. 44 entry. Rice, who won the 2004 Indianapolis 500 from the pole position, qualified seventh yesterday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Panther's second-best starting position at the historic 2.5-mile race track.

"It's great to have Fuzzy Zoeller and Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka back home with Panther Racing," Panther Racing Managing Partner and CEO John Barnes said. "Fuzzy is the kind of guy we like to have on our team - he's a champion, a fierce competitor and somebody who wants to win the Indianapolis 500 just as badly as everybody on our team. Buddy Rice hasdone an unbelievable job for us this month and we're happy to find a great partner like Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka to help get us one step closer to victory lane at the Brickyard."

Zoeller is the winner of two Major Championships, as the golf legend won The Masters in his first appearance in the event in 1979. He won the 1984 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club and won the Senior PGA Championship in 2002 and is a native of Indiana.

"In racing, like golf, sometimes you play two balls," Zoeller, winner of 12 tour victories on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, said. "We're looking forward to rejoining last year's partner Panther Racing and sponsoring the No. 44 Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka driven by Buddy Rice. We had a great run last year with Panther and we look forward to another exciting Indianapolis 500 together."

Rice is the 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner and is returning to the Indianapolis 500 this season after a two-year hiatus during which he won another of the world's most prestigious auto races - the Rolex 24 at Daytona. In his career Rice has a total of three IZOD IndyCar Series victories and finished a career-best third in the series championship in 2004.

"I'm just really happy to have Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka on the No. 44 car for the race next weekend," Rice said. "All the guys on the team talked about how great it was to have Fuzzy around last season and I'm looking forward to meeting him and putting the Fuzzy's Vodka car at the front of the field in the 500. We've had a great month so far, and the car's been quick out of the gate and, for me, I'm just excited to be back at Indianapolis - especially for the Centennial. This only comes around once and thanks to John Barnes, Panther Racing and Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka we're going to have a great package for next Sunday."