The Indy car for Bryan Herta Autosport was in pieces. The driver was in the hospital. Valencia’s Bryan Herta, the owner of the team, didn’t know if he was in or out of the Indianapolis 500 until he was on his way to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway tech center after qualifying was over on Sunday.

Sure enough, Herta’s team was in the Indianapolis 500 field, the last car in. Sebastian Saavedra will start 33rd for Bryan Herta Autosport in the 33-car field, the last car on the last row.

Herta, with a rookie driver, one car, limited resources and boundless hope, will make his first start in the Indy 500 as an owner.

“You know, we were well aware that we were going to have a roller coaster, that our race was to make the race, and we knew that we were going to be part of whatever is happening today, that it was going to be touch and go,” said Herta, a Hart High graduate. “But never in a million years could we have imagined the scenario that actually unfolded. Thank God. I already had a hard enough time sleeping.”

Go to Haddock in the Paddock for more on Bryan Herta Autosport’s incredible day in qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.