INDIANAPOLIS -- The anticipated "Bump Day" drama never materialized at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon. It was washed away by the wretched weather that's plagued The Brickyard all month.

Not that there weren't some good stories, anxious moments and heartbreak, but a steady drizzle shut things down with two and a half hours remaining.

So there were no last-minute banzai runs into the field of 33 or the usual televised agony of the driver on the bubble. Nor was there any of the anticipated deals made on pit road between owners of Championship Auto Racing Teams and the rival Indy Racing League.

It was wet and quiet, except for the shouts and sounds of high 5s from Billy Boat 's team -- the slowest in the field for the second straight year.

"We were definitely doing a rain dance," said Boat, who had crashed his backup car Sunday morning and whose speed of 226.589 mph seemed guaranteed to be bumped.

"It didn't look very promising after we crashed this morning and then everybody started running faster and faster. I'll admit, I thought we were cooked but this place is so hard to predict."

That was never more evident than Sunday.

Following Saturday's practice period, conducted in heavy winds and frigid temperatures, it appeared that an average of 225 mph would be plenty fast enough to make the show.

But the weather at Indy changes like A.J. Foyt's mood and Sunday dawned calm, cool and built for speed. It was in the mid-50s, the wind sock barely moved, the barometer was rising and lap times were going down.

"I was surprised how fast the track was and how much speed guys were picking up," said Michael Andretti, whose day turned out to be a lot more exciting than he ever imagined.

It started when two-time winner Arie Luyendyk jumped up three mph from a week ago and made his third and final try a winner at 228.848 mph. Then rookies Alex Barron and Shigeaki Hattori reeled off 228 mph runs and another first-timer, George Mack, found a solid 227 average.

"I feel like Superman and it's a great feeling because it's been a long journey to make this race," said Barron, a talented Californian who came to the IRL because all his CART opportunities dried up. "The weather helped us some today but this team made the difference."

With those three low-budget teams, Blair Racing (Barron), 310 Racing (Mack) and Bradley Motorsports (Hattori), easily blasting into the starting lineup, the focus suddenly shifted to one of CART's marquee teams and the best driver to have never won Indy.

Andretti, who's led 398 laps here but never driven into victory lane in 12 starts, was facing a dilemma around 3 o'clock. The field was full and he was the second slowest driver. He'd also just hot-lapped at 228-plus in his backup car.

"I didn't want to wait around until 5:30 and see if I'd get bumped. I wanted to withdraw my original speed and go back out in my backup car and go now while the conditions were the same," said the 39-year-old veteran. "That was my take on it."

And it only took Andretti 2:37.402 to complete his 10-mile run at 228.713 mph to insure himself and his Motorola/Archipelago crew there would be no more fretting.

As it turned out there would also be no more qualifying.

Jimmy Kite, Oriol Servia and Donnie Beechler all practiced quick enough to make the race but were KO'd by things out of their control. Kite's gearbox seized as he tried to leave the pit box, Servia lost fuel pressure after two laps that were fast enough to bump Boat and Beechler's car got out late and he never got a chance.

"Obviously, we had the speed but it wasn't meant to be," said Kite, who took over for rookie Anthony Lazzaro on Friday and was running 226-plus by Saturday.

"We got into a new car and had the speed so it feels unfair for this team," said Servia, who found out last week his CART ride had folded for 2002.

Beechler, fired earlier this season by Foyt's and then thrown into his third car late in the week, summed up the general feeling of everyone in Gasoline Alley that will be spectators come May 26.

"This has been a really crazy month for weather and we can't control it," he said. "But, to not even get a chance, that really hurts."

Boat, technically, was on the bubble for nearly three hours even though nobody ever got a shot at him because of the rain. When the tack was officially closed shortly before 5, he'd dodged another bullet on Bump Day at Indianapolis.

"This stuff isn't good for the heart," he said with a grin. "But I do have experience at it."