By Bruce Martin

INDIANAPOLIS — There was one spot remaining in the starting lineup for next Sunday’s 91st Indianapolis 500 after nine more cars qualified Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Al Unser, Jr. made the race in Saturday’s qualifications with a four-lap average of 220.876 miles per hour and will start inside the ninth row in 25th position.
Unser was able to qualify for his 19th Indy 500.
“The run was pretty good, but I’m a tenth (of a second) slower than what I ran last Sunday for the four-lap average,” Unser said. “The conditions were a little bit worse today. Turn one is a little bit loose and then in turn two, the way the wind was blowing, it’s washing the front end out. The last lap let it loose and opened it up and ran a good lap, so I was happy.”
Roger Yasukawa was the fastest driver in Saturday’s third round with a four-lap average of 222.654 mph to put a third Dreyer & Reinbold car into the 500.
“They are all identical, and we’re sharing data now,” Yasukawa said of the cars driven by teammates Buddy Rice and Sarah Fisher. “Luckily, I had the qualifying data from last week, and I think that helped.
“I was a bit surprised. I was expecting maybe a 221.1 or maybe the 221s, but to do a 222.6 average, the car is running really well.”
NASCAR driver John Andretti qualified for his first Indy 500 since 1994 when he put a third Panther Racing entry into the field with a four-lap average of 221.756 mph, the day’s second-fastest qualifier.
“I think my experience played a part in it since I have been here a few times,” Andretti said. “The line is a little bit different, so I had to relearn some things. It was good, it was solid and I couldn’t be happier with the car. Vitor Meira set it up, and all I had to do was go out and drive it.”
Unser was the next fastest, followed by Alex Barron’s 220.471 mph, Jon Herb’s 220.108 mph, Jaques Lazier’s 219.409 mph, Milka Duno’s 219.228 mph, Mary Roth’s 218.922 mph, Roberto Moreno’s 216.229 mph and Jimmy Kite’s 214.528.
Duno became the third female driver in this year’s race, joining Danica Patrick and Fisher. Duno got into the field despite a crash during the first week of practice.