Between screams over the radio while circling Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 19 at 4:57 p.m., Kyle Kaiser said this:

“This is absolutely the greatest story of my life.”

Kaiser was right. It also was one of the greatest stories in the long history of the Indianapolis 500, a young driver with just five NTT IndyCar Series races on his resume, driving for a team with a fraction of the resources of the team it knocked out of the race, had qualified 33rd for the 103rd 500 with a last-minute run that sent home a two-time Formula One World Champion.

Kaiser and Juncos Racing put together just enough of an effort to top Fernando Alonso and McLaren Racing, which had struggled to find speed throughout practice and qualifying. With minutes to spare and little hope, Kaiser recorded a four-lap average of 227.372 mph, just enough to make it into the race and prevent Alonso and McLaren from doing the same.

Almost as shocking as the upset was the story behind it. Two days before the historic qualifying run, Kaiser’s car was destroyed by a crash in practice. Ricardo Juncos, the team’s owner, considered scrapping everything but decided against it. Instead, after talking with Kaiser and other team leaders, he decided to transform the team’s only other car -- a road-course car raced the month before at Circuit of The Americas -- into a speedway car.

“It was a discussion I had with (Ricardo) and other advisers as to whether I wanted to do this,” Kaiser said after the successful run. “We knew there was a lot on the line, including money. It was a very big decision that we all had to come to together. We decided we aren’t the quitting type. We felt like we could pull it off, but it was a big gamble.”

While the story of Juncos’ success was the story of the day, so too was the handling of failure by Alonso and McLaren’s principals. At a solemn press conference afterward, McLaren sporting director Gil de Ferran took the blame.

“I want to apologize to you, as well,” the 500's 2003 winner said, turning to Alonso. “We didn’t give you a car that was fast enough. You drove like the champion that we know you are. Particularly the last three days have been incredibly tense and difficult, and we couldn’t have asked anything more from you, Fernando. I’m sorry, man. You’re an amazing driver. In my 35 years of racing … this has been the most painful experience I’ve ever had.”