Unser, Andretti qualify at Indy

An Unser and another Andretti are in the field for the 91st Indianapolis 500 -- naturally.

Except this isn’t the heyday of open-wheel racing, when those two families were the biggest names in the sport and their inclusion in the big race was all but a foregone conclusion.

This time, Al Unser Jr. and John Andretti had to drive other people’s backup cars and put them into the lineup on the second weekend of qualifying at Indianapolis.

Unser, 45 and a recovering alcoholic, climbed into A.J. Foyt’s second car last week and had one qualifying run bumped out of the tentative lineup last Sunday. He came back Saturday, the third of four days of time trials for the May 27 race, to post a four-lap, 10-mile run of 220.876 mph that assured him of starting his 19th 500.

“The run was pretty good,” Unser said, smiling. “I’m a tenth [of a second] slower than I was last Sunday, but the conditions were a little bit worse today, with lots of wind in Turn 1 and real loose [conditions] in Turn 2.”

His first three laps were very consistent, between 220.2 and 220.8. But the two-time Indy winner’s final lap jumped to 221.6.

Andretti, who has spent the last 13 years racing in NASCAR, didn’t get his ride in the third Panther Racing car until earlier this week. With help in setting up the car from teammate Vitor Meira, Andretti was even stronger. He turned an average of 221.756 to qualify for his eighth Indy start and first since 1994.

The two veteran racers were among 10 drivers who qualified Saturday, leaving one more position to fill in the 33-car Indy lineup today, the final day of time trials. Once the field is full, any nonqualified cars will still have a chance to bump out the slowest qualifiers until the end of today’s session.

Other third-day qualifiers included Roger Yasukawa at 222.654, Alex Barron at 220.471, Jon Herb at 220.108, Jaques Lazier at 219.409, rookie Milka Duno at 219.228 -- joining Danica Patrick and Sarah Fisher in the lineup -- Marty Roth at 218.922, Roberto Moreno at 216.229 and Jimmy Kite at 214.528.

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Mat Mladin dominated the first leg of the AMA Superbike doubleheader at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., beating Suzuki teammate Ben Spies by 19.135 seconds -- the largest margin of victory in the series this season.

With the victory, the six-time AMA Superbike champion from Australia chopped Spies’ series lead in half, cutting the margin to 206-201.

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Rip Michels of San Fernando took over the lead from Nick Joanides on the seventh lap and won the 50-lap ACDelco Super Late Model feature race at Irwindale Speedway. Michels, the winningest driver at Irwindale, notched his 47th career victory and his third consecutive division victory this season.