Written by:
Kevin Krefting
03/22/2007
Homestead, Fla.
Grand-Am racer Milka Duno announced at Homestead-Miami Speedway Friday that she was expanding her 2007 racing program to include IndyCars. Venezualan native Duno, who became the first woman in history to win a major international sports car race in North America when she was part of the winning team at Homestead in a Grand-Am race in 2004, had previously been linked with a revived Cahill Racing IndyCar squad. Instead, however, she will instead compete in the IndyCar Series with SAMAX Motorsport with backing from CITGO, for whom she also drives a Daytona Prototype in Grand-Am.
Duno will drive the No. 23 CITGO Racing/SAMAX Motorsport Dallara-Honda at 10 IndyCar Series events this season, including the Indianapolis 500. She also plans to compete at Kansas, Texas, Iowa, Watkins Glen, Nashville, Mid Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Chicago.
Duno joined Felix Rodriguez, president and CEO of CITGO Petroleum Corp., Peter Baron, team principal of SAMAX Motorsport, and Tony George, founder and CEO of the Indy Racing League, in announcing the sponsor and team plans to field an entry in the 2007 IndyCar Series season.
Although SAMAX is new to the series, its crew members are an experienced group with most having been part of an Indianapolis 500 win. Steve Challis and John Cummiskey have been named as lead engineer and team manager, respectively. Cummiskey has three Indy 500 wins next to his name and shared a second place with Challis in 2002. The team will be based out of Gasoline Alley and members will be comprised of a mix of Indy specialists and a few familiar faces from Duno's Grand-Am team.
"This is a dream come true for me," said Duno. "I've always wanted to race in the Indianapolis 500 and in the IndyCar Series, and I can't begin to thank CITGO for continuing to support my racing, as well as everybody at SAMAX Motorsport. The SAMAX team brings a lot of open-wheel experience to the IndyCar Series and I'm hopeful that will make my transition into the series a bit smoother. To make this announcement in my hometown of Miami with my family and friends and fans around me is terrific."
"I am very proud of Milka's accomplishments as a member of the great CITGO family and as a fellow Venezuelan. We certainly look forward to her continued success in this new phase of her career," said CITGO President and CEO Felix Rodriguez.
