Last-chance gambles pay off at Indy

As the minutes ticked away Sunday, the final day of qualification for next week’s Indianapolis 500, Roberto Moreno and his team took stock of their situation.

With less than an hour to go until the 33-car field was set for next Sunday’s race, the 48-year-old Brazilian, hoping to drive in his third 500 in 21 years, was “on the bubble,” the slowest qualifier in the lineup at 216.229 mph.

Moreno said he was sure that wasn’t going to be fast enough.

As he got more comfortable in his car Sunday, Moreno’s practice speeds climbed and he knew it was time to get aggressive instead of waiting for a faster car to bump him.

“I saw that I achieved 220 [mph] and was solid in the car and said, ‘OK, guys, that’s enough. Let’s go for it.’ ”

Moreno, who got his ride in the No. 77 Chastain Motorsports car Friday, the day after Stephan Gregoire crashed and fractured a vertebra, was up to the challenge.

His first lap was over 219.8 and the next three were all over 220, giving him an average of 220.299 -- more than four mph faster than the speed he posted Saturday.

Moreno, who finished 19th in 1986 and 20th in 1999, was so happy with his run Sunday, he took his hands off the steering wheel before he completed the final lap, raising his arms in triumph and shaking his fists.

Ironically, it turned out his first qualifying speed would have made the lineup anyway. But Moreno didn’t care.

Moreno joined Richie Hearn and rookie Phil Giebler as Sunday qualifiers, with Jimmy Kite, who began the day with the slowest speed (214.528) among the 32 drivers already in the lineup, the only driver bumped out.

Hearn’s deal was even more last-minute than Moreno’s.

Hearn, whose last of six previous Indy starts was in 2005, signed Saturday with longtime Indy Racing League team owner Ron Hemelgarn and co-owner-driver Jon Herb, then had to wait as the Hemelgarn/Racing Professionals team put together Herb’s backup car for him.

The No. 91 Dallara made it out to the pit lane late on Saturday, but Hearn didn’t make it onto the track until Sunday morning.

Hearn, who finished third as a rookie in 1996 and sixth in 2002, filled the 32nd spot in the field with about three hours remaining on the last of four days of time trials, posting a speed of 219.860.

Next came Giebler, returning to the track less than 24 hours after crashing during his first qualifying attempt.

Giebler, who drives for Playa Del Racing, turned three laps at more than 221 mph before hitting the wall in Turn 2. His team worked through the night to repair the car.

His four-lap average of 219.637 mph was well below his pace a day earlier, but it still was fast enough to better the 219.228 by the only other rookie in the 33-car lineup, Milka Duno.

Giebler will start the race in the final spot, on the outside of the 11th row. Duno will start from the middle of the 10th row, even though she had a slower speed, because she qualified a day earlier.

Kite tried hard to find enough speed to get back into the field, but never came close. He made one last attempt with less than three minutes to go in the six-hour session and, after a first lap at 214.744, slowed and drove to pit lane.

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Indianapolis 500 lineup

Lineup for Sunday’s race (10 a.m. PDT, Channel 7):

*--* ROW 1 PP NO. DRIVER CAR MPH 1. 3 w-Helio Castroneves Dallara 225.817 2. 11 Tony Kanaan Dallara 225.757 3. 27 Dario Franchitti Dallara 225.191 ROW 2 4. 9 Scott Dixon Dallara 225.122 5. 6 w-Sam Hornish Jr. Dallara 225.109 6. 10 w-Dan Wheldon Dallara 224.641 ROW 3 7. 12 Ryan Briscoe Dallara 224.410 8. 7 Danica Patrick Dallara 224.076 9. 26 Marco Andretti Dallara 223.299 ROW 4 10. 2 Tomas Scheckter Dallara 222.877 11. 39 Michael Andretti Dallara 222.789 12. 8 Scott Sharp Dallara 223.875 ROW 5 13. 17 Jeff Simmons Dallara 223.693 14. 20 Ed Carpenter Dallara 223.495 15. 14 Darren Manning Dallara 223.471 ROW 6 16. 15 w-Buddy Rice Dallara 222.826 17. 55 Kosuke Matsuura Dallara 222.595 18. 22 A.J. Foyt IV Dallara 222.413 ROW 7 19. 4 Vitor Meira Dallara 222.333 20. 2 Davey Hamilton Dallara 222.327 21. 5 Sarah Fisher Dallara 221.960 ROW 8 22. 99 w-Buddy Lazier Dallara 221.380 23. 24 Roger Yasukawa Dallara 222.654 24. 33 John Andretti Dallara 221.756 ROW 9 25. 50 w-Al Unser Jr. Dallara 220.876 26. 98 Alex Barron Dallara 220.471 27. 19 Jon Herb Dallara 220.108 ROW 10 28. 21 Jaques Lazier Panoz 219.409 29. 23 r-Milka Duno Dallara 219.228 30. 25 Marty Roth Dallara 218.922 ROW 11 31. 77 Roberto Moreno Panoz 220.299 32. 91 Richie Hearn Dallara 219.860 33. 31 r-Phil Giebler Panoz 219.637

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Note: Lap length, 2.5 miles. w-former winner; r-rookie