April 29, 2006: Dan Wheldon may have won the Kansas Lottery 300 on Sunday but the big news was the women racing beside him; specifically Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno.
For the first time in IndyCar history, there were three female racers on the starting grid – a record for a major open-wheel series event. In fact, there were three times as many women driving at Kansas Speedway as Andrettis—or Foyts.
Danica Patrick, made headlines earlier this season when she moved to Andretti Green Racing; While she has yet to earn a victory in her short IRL career, Danica has won the respect and admiration of fans, as well as her fellow drivers. Danica, who on Lap 49 of the race collided with teammate Tony Kanaan’s car while leaving her pit stall, recovered to record a season-best seventh place.
Sarah Fisher recently made her return to open-wheel racing after a brief hiatus. She still has the best finish of any female in the IndyCar Series and will look for victory circle in 2007. She finished 12th in Kansas.
Milka Duno is the first woman from Venezuela to start a career in professional Motorsports at an international level. In her short career, the beautiful naval engineer has become one of the most popular drivers on racetracks all over the world, garnering considerable attention from the national and international motorsports and mainstream media.
CITGO Racing’s Milka, who passed her official “Rookie Test” for the 2007 IndyCar Series just days before the Kansa race, started her debut at the back of the pack and advanced seven positions through the field to finish 14th at Kansas Speedway. Toward that end, Duno and her team consider their first race together an unquestioned success.
Looking forward, Sarah, Danica and Milka may well comprise the first three-woman field in the Indianapolis 500. And this may well be the year a woman wins the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
Links & Resources
IRL Indy Racing League
NASCAR National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing
Milka Duno
Sarah Fisher
Danica Patrick
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