POLE DAY, JUNE 26 – Bobby Unser was the surprise of the day when, after having not been a part of the speed chase all week because "I've had more trouble here than at any time in my life," he finally found it in his Olsonite Eagle and ran a quick 171.847. Donohue called off his initial qualifying attempt on the first lap, admittedly taking a gamble. But he came back in the final hour and ran 172.393, with his slowest and fastest laps being separated at only .3 of a second. Andretti provided some drama — an engine change used up 3 hours, 45 minutes, then a turbocharger change slowed things a second time and finally, the car had to make a stop for fuel before getting back into the qualifying line late in the day. He was seventh in line with just 53 minutes to go. If he hadn't made it, he would have had to start behind all the first-day qualifiers, but things went smoothly and he was the last driver to complete a qualifying run — at 169.510, fifth in the field. "[Chief mechanic] Jim [McGee] and the guys deserve a lot of credit for the job they did for me. It was a long day," Andretti said.