Scotland's Dario Franchitti admitted he had endured "a long week" as he waited to qualify for the legendary Indianapolis 500.

Franchitti abandoned his attempt last weekend in the opening weekend of qualifying but returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday to earn himself the perfect birthday present.

The Team Green star celebrated his 29th birthday by posting a four-lap average around Indy of 228.177mph to claim 28th spot on the grid.

Due to the complex nature of qualifying at Indy, Franchitti would have started next weekend's 86th running of the 500 from sixteenth had he set his time in the initial qualifying sessions, rather than on the last-chance 'bump day'.

But the Scotsman was just relieved to make the grid, especially as starting position counts for little around the banked oval.

"We knew we weren't going for the pole last weekend and we waved off a 226.5mph average," he said.

"Then we had some engine problems. I pushed too hard.

"So we took a couple of days off and came back with a new purpose and the speed was there. But it's been a long week."

Franchitti, runner-up in the FedEx CART Championship in 1999 by the slimmest of margins to Formula One ace Juan Pablo Montoya, will follow in illustrious footsteps when he takes to the grid on the 'Brickyard'.

Fellow Scot and two-time Formula One world champion Jim Clark won at Indy in 1965, while countryman Jackie Stewart - a three-time world champion - led for 40 laps in 1966 before a mechanical failure.

Target Chip Ganassi's Brazilian former F3000 champion Bruno Junqueira will start the race from pole position, while last year's winner, Helio Castroneves, also from Brazil, lines up 13th in his Penske.