INDIANAPOLIS - The 24 hours between Fast Friday practice and bump day qualifying were stressful for all 35 entrants hoping to make the 102nd Indianapolis 500 Presented by PennGrade Motor Oil field.

But no team endured tribulations quite like James Davison and the Foyt with Byrd/Hollinger/Belardi team.

Davison and the No. 33 Jonathan Byrd’s 502 East Chevrolet crew overcame a crash in practice on Friday and survived the intense closing moments of Saturday to claim the 33rd and final position in the first-day qualifying. On May 27, Davison will make his fourth start in the Indy 500. It’s the first time the Australian has qualified for the event in a year with more than 33 entrants.

“It's amazing,” Davison said. “To really make it in its old-school fashion is incredible.

“Whenever I've made it in the past, it's been by default, really. There've been 33 cars or I didn't even qualify a car into the race. It's good to do it the real way.”

The result also guaranteed longtime Mazda Road to Indy owner Brian Belardi his first run as an owner in the Indy 500. Belardi is in his eighth year as an owner of teams in the INDYCAR ladder system, currently with two entries in Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires. 

“I’m just so happy right now,” Belardi said. “The team did such a great job putting that car back together. We have great partners.

“It's amazing. My heart's racing right now.”

Davison drove in last year’s Indy 500 as a replacement for the injured Sebastien Bourdais at Dale Coyne Racing after the Frenchman’s qualifying crash. Tristan Vautier qualified the car, so Davison started 33rd and finished 20th. His best finish in three Indy 500s was 16th as a rookie in 2014 with KV Racing Technology.

For the first time, Davison had the full week of practice to prepare this year. Things took a sour turn on Friday, when he spun and slammed the Turn 2 SAFER Barrier, causing extensive damage to the right side of his car. The crash forced the crew to work until the wee hours of the morning to make repairs.

“They worked their butts off, stayed up all night,” Belardi said. “We were the first ones in tech this morning at 6 a.m. During the rain delay (during qualifying), the guys were sleeping in the garage.”

The 31-year-old Australian was the 12th driver to set a qualifying speed, completing four laps at an average of 224.798 mph. Then it was time to wait it out.

Davison sat 31st after every car had completed its first run. As the final hour of qualifying crept in, Oriol Servia and Conor Daly made their way past Davison, pushing him onto the bubble of being bumped from the field.

But Pippa Mann couldn’t muster enough speed as the final qualifier and James Hinchcliffe was left stranded at the head of the qualifying line as time expired. Davison’s machine was sitting behind Hinchcliffe’s, just in case he needed to make another run.

“I would have liked to have gone back out there and gone quicker,” Davison said. “I felt we had more in us, but it didn't make sense to withdraw a time until an occasion came that we were out.” 

Now Davison can set his sights on Sunday’s final qualifications and the 500-mile race  itself, where he feels he has a genuine chance to contend.

“When it comes to race pace, 80 percent of the field is evenly matched,” Davison said. “Even though we're 33rd-quickest today, we still probably have an equal shot with at least half the field in the race if we can get track position.”

There was still some time to celebrate Saturday night and savor the fact that the No. 33 Chevy will be in the big show.

“The past day’s been a whirlwind,” Belardi said. “But it was all worth it in the end.”