MILKA DUNO “WEIGHS IN” FOR CITGO AND MDA

Racer Milka Duno attends Muscular Dystrophy Association Event

August 6, 2004 – Racer Milka Duno joined with her sponsor CITGO for the “Weigh In for MDA” – a fundraiser to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association – at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina a few weeks ago on Thursday, July 29, 2004.

The “Weigh In for MDA” event was organized by CITGO and conducted in coordination with their sponsorship of the CITGO Bassmaster Tournament Trail and the CITGO Bassmaster Classic. The fundraising event was a kick-off to this year’s annual Classic ESPN Outdoors Expo – the consumer expo that accompanies the CITGO Bassmaster Classic.

The fundraising event was highlighted by both live and silent auctions with all proceeds benefiting the MDA. For the very first time bass fishing enthusiasts that were unable to attend the event were invited to bid on unique items from the tournament on eBay for a ten-day period just prior to the event. Items auctioned on eBay included tournament jerseys autographed by superstars of the sport, as well as a brand new tournament bass fishing boat.

The heavily attended event raised approximately $72,000 for the very worthy cause – approximately $19,000 of the amount from the eBay auction alone. This event marks the first time that CITGO has partnered with BASS to raise money for the MDA - and with its’ initial success hopes to continue to explore opportunities to do more of the same.

“As a long time sponsor of the MDA, we are constantly seeking new ways to increase both awareness and funds raised. It is both exciting and rewarding to identify and develop synergies between our primary sponsorships, in this instance BASS, CITGO Racing and MDA. We are most grateful to BASS and Milka Duno for their commitment to the Weigh In event”, said Geoff Smith, manager of sponsorships and promotions for CITGO.

Milka and her CITGO Racing team are the newest sponsorship stars for CITGO, and as the racing team is based near Charlotte, this event created a wonderful opportunity for Milka and members of her team to be involved with her sponsor and the MDA.

“It was such a wonderful and rewarding evening,” said Milka. Not only did I get a chance to meet all the dedicated and generous people involved with CITGO, BASS and the MDA, I also had the honor of meeting several of the children affected by muscle disease. I hope to increase my participation in this very worthwhile cause.”

Milka, along with her teammate Andy Wallace, compete in the 2004 Rolex Sports Car Series. Milka and Andy drive for Howard-Boss Motorsports in the #2 CITGO Pontiac Crawford Daytona Prototype and delivered to CITGO their very first win in the series in only the 2nd race of the season – the Grand Prix of Miami on February 28, 2004. With this win for CITGO Milka became the first woman in history to score an overall win in a major North American Sports Car Race.

CITGO has been the MDA’s largest national corporate sponsor during their continuous 19-year involvement, having raised over $64,000,000 for the charity organization.

CITGO, based in Tulsa, Okla., is a refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals, refined waxes, asphalt and other industrial products. The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. For more information on CITGO visit www.citgo.com.

Additional information on drivers Milka Duno and Andy Wallace is available at www.milkaduno.com and www.andywallace.com, respectively. For more information on the Grand American Sports Car Series please visit www.grandamerican.com.
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