Duno’s Talladega Race Ends Too Early

Talladega, Al. (May 4, 2012) – It was 83 degrees at the start of today’s ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250 at Talladega Superspeedway and with rain wiping out the practice and qualifying sessions the day before everyone was ready to hit the track and go racing.

Today’s final practice went off as planned and the starting order, due to qualifying being cancelled, was determined by last year’s Team Owner Points. Duno was placed 29th on the starting grid.

The first caution flag of the day waved on lap 11 and Duno, having advanced 9 positions to 20th, was caught up in a multi-car crash ahead of her which brought out first the yellow – and then the red flag. Duno was able to react quickly to the crash ahead but at the end was boxed in with nowhere to go and had contact with a spinning, damaged car that slid directly in front of her.

On lap 6 of the 11-lap green flag run Duno had earned the 2nd fastest lap of the race at 187.064mph.

When the yellow came out again and Duno was able to bring the car into the pits Crew Chief Dave Leiner Jr and his crew quickly determined that the water reservoir had been damaged and took the car directly to the garage. Upon further inspection they discovered that the motor mounts had been damaged as well. That would end the day for Duno and her team and place her in 37th.

“It was an unfortunate, unlucky day for us here at Talladega,” said Duno. “Rain took away the practice and qualifying sessions yesterday and we were only able to get on the track for about an hour this morning. But we felt we had a competitive car and were looking forward to a good race. Right from the start of the race we were doing really well. We were gaining position and posting some really quick lap times and it was going great. Unfortunately, a bunch of cars up ahead got caught up and then collected me as well and ended our day way too early. Thanks to Dave and the crew, as always, for giving me a really good car.”

“Things like this happen at Talladega and sometimes you get caught up in them and sometimes you don’t. For us, luck was not on our side today,” said Crew Chief Dave Leiner Jr. “Milka was doing really well at the start and it’s too bad that her race ended so early.”

About Milka Duno
Duno has eight major race wins in the highest classes (Prototype) in the American Le Mans Series and Rolex Series and the highest finish ever by a female driver (2nd Place) in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in the 48-year history of the race. Go, Milka, Go! - a book about her life and racing career, was awarded the Best Young Adult Sports/Recreation Book of 2009 at the 11th Annual International Latino Book Awards. In 2010, Duno became the first Venezuelan athlete inducted into the Latin American International Sports Hall of Fame.

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