First Latina to Run the Indy 500
Recently I wrote a story about women in motorsports; more specifically it was about attractive women in motorsports. Today, it was announced that one of those women is heading to the Indy 500 for the first time. Milka Duno, the first woman in history to win a major international sportscar race in North America, announced that she will be competing in the 2007 IndyCar Series with SAMAX Motorsport and Citgo Racing. This means she will become the first Latina to compete in the famed Indianapolis 500, which is part of the ‘07 schedule.
Duno, who is a Florida native, has been extremely successful on the track running in the Rolex Grand Am series where she scored three wins, seven podium appearances, 10 top-five finishes and 26 top-10 finishes since her 2004 rookie season. Just this year she finished second at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona giving her the record for the highest finish ever by a female driver in the 45-year history of the race.
While the jump to open wheel racing won’t be simple, Duno has high hopes that her new team’s experience will help to smooth the transition. SAMAX Motorsport’s IndyCar crew members have a fair amount of first hand IndyCar know-how. Team manager John Cummiskey has three Indy 500 wins under his belt and was involved in a second place effort with lead engineer Steve Challis in 2002.
It will be interesting to see how she progresses in the series, especially competing against so many other budding stars.
-Bill Mertz
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