Long on speed, short on experience, the rookie-filled Indianapolis 500 lineup was completed Sunday with three more qualifiers and a 53-year-old veteran who hasn't raced an Indy car in nine years.
Starting at the rear of the fastest lineup in Indy history next Sunday is Danny Ongais, who will take over the car in which Scott Brayton qualified.Brayton, who won the pole position for the second straight year, was killed in a crash during practice Friday.
A drag racing champion who was one of the hardest charging drivers from the late 1970s through the mid-80s, Ongais was picked as a substitute driver by car owner John Menard on Sunday, the final day of qualifications.
"We looked long and hard to find somebody that would be appropriate to do this," Menard said. "I've known Danny for many years. We're very happy to be associated with him, although we're wishing it would be under different circumstances.
"But Danny's going to do a fine job and carry on what Scott, I think, would want done, and that's to see the car raced on race day here at the greatest race in the world."
Ongais, who turns 54 Tuesday and will be the oldest driver in the field, must start the race 33rd, at the rear, because he is a substitute.
He was replaced by a substitute driver in his last appearance at Indianapolis in 1987 after he sustained a severe concussion in practice. His Team Penske ride that year went to Al Unser Sr., who went on to a record-tying fourth victory.
"Things were quite different and there were many factors that contributed to that win, so I never look back and wonder what might have been," Ongais said.
"When I decided to come back to championship car racing, the Indianapolis 500 was not my choice of venue to begin. It just happened to be a race on the schedule. But I had no doubts at that time, and having spent some time in a car this month, it reinforces my thoughts."
Most of the top teams and drivers are boycotting Indy and will be at Michigan International Speedway next Sunday for the U.S. 500, an outgrowth of the split between Championship Auto Racing Teams and Speedway president Tony George's Indy Racing League.
With the qualification Sunday of veteran Hideshi Matsuda and rookies Scott Harrington and Joe Gosek, the lineup will include 17 drivers who have never competed at Indianapolis, the largest rookie crop since 19 started in 1930.