In what has been one of the most dramatic Bump Day qualfiying session in years, Alex Tagliani was squeezed out of the Indianapolis 500 field in the final moments of the afternoon when many drivers improved their times to push the Canadian on the bubble.
Conquest driver Tagliani, who had been trying to qualify for his first Indy 500, had looked safe in 26th place at the start of the day, but when John Andretti got back into the field and forced Ryan Hunter-Reay out, Tagliani's hopes came to a drastic end.
Hunter-Reay responded with a four-lap average of 220.597mph, a scant 0.04mph quicker than Tagliani's average of Saturday. It was enough to get him in and Tagliani out.
1996 race winner Buddy Lazier (Hemelgarn) and 3G's NASCAR convert Stanton Barrett were the other two drivers to miss out on Bump Day.
Ironically, Tagliani's teammate Bruno Junqueira was the only driver to get in the race... even though he started Bump Day outside the grid!
Complete Indianapolis 500 starting line-up:
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
23. Robert Doornbos Newman/Haas/Lanigan 221.692mph
24. Townsend Bell KV 221.195mph
25. Oriol Servia Rahal Letterman 220.984mph
26. Tomas Scheckter Coyne 221.496mph
27. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 221.417mph
28. John Andretti Dreyer & Reinbold/Petty 221.316mph
29. EJ Viso HVM 221.164mph
30. Bruno Junqueira Conquest 221.115mph
31. Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold 221.106mph
32. Nelson Philippe HVM 220.754mph
33. Ryan Hunter-Reay Vision 220.597mph
Conquest driver Tagliani, who had been trying to qualify for his first Indy 500, had looked safe in 26th place at the start of the day, but when John Andretti got back into the field and forced Ryan Hunter-Reay out, Tagliani's hopes came to a drastic end.
Hunter-Reay responded with a four-lap average of 220.597mph, a scant 0.04mph quicker than Tagliani's average of Saturday. It was enough to get him in and Tagliani out.
1996 race winner Buddy Lazier (Hemelgarn) and 3G's NASCAR convert Stanton Barrett were the other two drivers to miss out on Bump Day.
Ironically, Tagliani's teammate Bruno Junqueira was the only driver to get in the race... even though he started Bump Day outside the grid!
Complete Indianapolis 500 starting line-up:
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
23. Robert Doornbos Newman/Haas/Lanigan 221.692mph
24. Townsend Bell KV 221.195mph
25. Oriol Servia Rahal Letterman 220.984mph
26. Tomas Scheckter Coyne 221.496mph
27. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 221.417mph
28. John Andretti Dreyer & Reinbold/Petty 221.316mph
29. EJ Viso HVM 221.164mph
30. Bruno Junqueira Conquest 221.115mph
31. Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold 221.106mph
32. Nelson Philippe HVM 220.754mph
33. Ryan Hunter-Reay Vision 220.597mph