CITGO Racing- Rolex 24 Thursday

The No. 7 CITGO Pontiac-powered Riley Mk XI will start 18th on the grid for the 2006 Rolex 24 At Daytona. Dario Franchitti qualified in one minute 45.673 seconds (121.280 mph) on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway infield road course. He will share driving duty during the 24-hour race with Milka Duno, Marino Franchitti and Kevin McGarrity.

"I think we have a very good car in the infield, but right now we're struggling for straight-line speed in the banking. That showed up in our qualifying position," Dario Franchitti said. "Hopefully, we'll find why we're down on the straights and we'll fix it. Qualifying doesn't really matter, but we want to be quicker in the straight for the race."

smart and fast (information provided by Race PR)

Milka Duno is a naval engineer who holds four master's degrees, in organizational development, naval architecture, maritime business and marine biology. She earned the naval, maritime and marine degrees simultaneously. It is no surprise she is an ardent promoter of literacy in the Latin community:

"I was recently invited to participate in a charity event called 'LATINOS READ 2005' to promote literacy in the Latin community. LATINOS READ aims it sights each year toward parents and children in an effort to inspire them to embark on a journey of self-discovery, while also instilling in them the confidence that through education and self-determination one can create a life filled with accomplishments and success. I believe very strongly in this philosophy and I was very happy to have been invited. Education is the key to a life lived to the fullest and the ability to read is the basic key ingredient. Words open up worlds!"

MDA support
The CITGO Riley carries the the logo of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Muscular dystrophy is a term that refers to a group of 40 neuromuscular diseases marked by progressive weakness and degeneration of muscle that can affect people of all ages.

CITGO has been a sponsor since 1985 and is the MDA's biggest corporate contributor in the United States. "Thanks to the efforts of our marketers, employees and business associates, we've raised more than $74 million to fund muscular dystrophy research in the past 21 years," noted Geoff Smith, CITGO manager of sponsorship marketing and sales promotion.

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