Indianapolis ? For Greg Ray, it was worth the wait.

After nearly two weeks of frustration as he waited for sponsorship to turn up, the former IRL champion finally got on the track Sunday and made qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 look easy.

Ray, a seven-time Indy 500 starter, ran only 20 practice laps before completing the 33-car lineup with a four-lap, 10-mile average of 216.641 mph. That speed would have placed him 18th had he done it May 15, the first of three days of time trials.

Instead, Ray will start 27th after topping seven Sunday qualifiers. But that’s just fine with the former Indy pole-winner.

“We didn’t really have time to get the car sorted out,” Ray said. “There was a lot of frustration. We were all chomping at the bit, and everybody was saying, ‘Let’s just unleash this thing.'”

Ray’s run ended weeks of speculation that the 88th Indy 500 could be the first since 1947 with fewer than the traditional 33 starters. Only 30 ran that year.

The only suspense after Ray’s qualifying run came late in the session when NASCAR star Tony Stewart made an unexpected appearance.

Stewart passed a physical and was getting ready to jump into one of team owner A.J. Foyt’s backup cars to practice and perhaps attempt to bump his way into the lineup when everything came to a sudden halt. Stewart and Foyt were informed on the pit lane by Cary Agajanian, Stewart’s agent, that there was an unspecified contract issue that would prevent him from driving the car.

All Stewart could do at that point was grin and shrug off the disappointment.

“I’m going to try to put something together for next year. I’ve got the fever now,” Stewart said.

Driver Greg Ray walks along the track after he made the field for the Indianapolis 500. Ray qualified Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.