INDIANAPOLIS — It seemed for a while that the elements were conspiring to keep A.J. Foyt IV out of this year's Indianapolis 500.

The grandson of four-time Indy winner A.J. Foyt began the final day of qualifying for the May 25 race as a non-qualifier, needing to bump his way into the 33-car field.

The biggest obstacle for the second straight day was the howling wind, blowing at a steady 20 mph and gusting at times at least 10 mph harder on Sunday.

But Foyt persevered after trying twice the previous day to qualify — getting caught by the wind and nearly hitting the wall on his first attempt and aborting the second try before it began with a broken gearbox. Moments after the 2.5-mile oval was opened for the final six hours of this year's qualifying, the 23-year-old driver gritted his teeth and made a solid, four-lap qualifying run averaging 219.184 mph.

That was easily good enough to bump Marty Roth, the slowest of the first 33 qualifiers at 215.506, from the tentative field.

"It's not easy," Foyt said. "Each corner you have to approach a little bit differently. It is really tough, especially the speed you carry around here. ... I'm just glad to get out there and put four laps in."