SPEEDWAY - As the 6 p.m. gun shot to close qualifications for the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500, Mario Dominguez looked to be on his way to a last-second spot in the field.
But at Indy, positives can turn into negatives in the blink of an eye.
After posting an opening lap of 219.870 mph, almost one mph faster than the bubble speed, Domginuez spun his car into the outside wall as he exited the first turn of lap two. The spin crushed Dominguez's dream of seeing the green flag wave to start Sunday's race, while cementing 49-year-old owner/driver Marty Roth's final spot in the field.
"That was wild," said Roth, who looked to be safely in the field in 32nd position until Buddy Lazier bumped Dominguez off the bubble 15 minutes before Indianapolis Speedway closed. "Some fast laps there at the end. You know, it was getting pretty competitive. Didn't see that one coming based on the times about 45 minutes earlier. It certainly makes for an exciting closing."
The closing to Bump Day featured four drivers making a combined seven qualifying attempts in the final 35 minutes. A fifth driver, Roth, was in line but passed on risking his qualified time because he didn't expect the close call Dominguez provided.
Lazier was effectively the winner of the final mad dash to enter the 33-car field. The 40-year-old former 500 winner was the last to qualify, posting a speed 219.015 mph to bump Dominguez out of the field.
Ten minutes before bumping Dominguez, Lazier canceled his first qualification attempt after three laps because he could not reach the minimum 218.010 mph - the required speed to bump Roger Yasukawa off the bubble - in a single lap.
Lazier gave credit to his team, saying the improvement was due to good mechanical work.
After consulting with 2005 champion and close friend Dan Wheldon and his team - Target Chip Ganassi - before his final qualifying attempt, Lazier's crew team decided to strip down force off the car. The mechanical move allowed a lighter car to reach a faster speed while worsening the handling on Indy's slippery track.
"That was pure engineering," Lazier said. "I'd love to say, 'I can dig deep and find three and a half miles at Indy.' I could probably only find a half [mph], or so. There's a lot of roots in our team, and it took every bit we had because it was a wicked day with that [track]."
Lazier is no stranger to success at Indy. The Hemelgarn Johnson Racing driver won the 1996 running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing and has also posted a pair of second-place finishes.
Despite the successes Lazier's experienced at Indy, he said making the field in the exciting fashion he did Sunday gave him just as warm of a feeling.
"If you have a smokin'-fast car, you feel really emotional because you got all of your race car," Lazier said. "You get everything out of it, and you finish in the top three. I think the emotions run the same when you get everything out of what you have on a given day, and it's just enough to make the Indy 500. It was a very emotional run, a very serious run and very much on the edge for sure."
While Lazier received the benefits of Bump Day, three other drivers experienced the cruel side of the final qualifying day at Indy.
Other than Dominguez and Yasukawa, who qualified Saturday and was in the field for most of the day before being bumped in the final hour, Max Papis also failed to make the field when his engine wouldn't start before he was to take his qualifying run.
Lazier, who will receive $50,000 from Firestone Tire for being the last driver to qualify on Bump Day, said he sympathized for the few who couldn't get the breaks to fall their way Sunday.
"I really feel bad for those guys who are a very good race team or very good drivers, but they just fell short," Lazier said. "I don't think it has anything to do with their ability. Make no mistake, you could probably put a guy who just did make the race and put them in a front-row car - and they might not be front row - but they'd probably be in the third row. So equipment around here is everything, and I think every driver here is extremely competitive and probably capable of winning."
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