Patrick won’t be the only female driver in the race. For the second straight year, she’ll be joined in the field by Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno, who start from the inside of Row 8 and the outside of Row 9, respectively.
Fisher is no stranger to the Indy 500, as she’ll be making her seventh start in the race on Sunday.
Drivers new to the IndyCar series often go unnoticed or noticed for some misfortune on the track, but at last year’s Indianapolis 500, people noticed Milka Duno for being Milka Duno.
“When I come to Indy I didn’t expect to have so many fans because I was new here. It was a great surprise for me.”
She charmed everyone. Fans followed her everywhere. They hung around the fence by her pit, hoping to draw her attention. They waited and waited outside her garage for a chance to see the Venezuelan beauty.
The more people learned about Duno, the more people respected her. She was not just a pretty face trying to take some laps in the world’s most famous race.
However, she wanted to return to open wheel racing, something she had been competing in Europe. “It’s a special race. I always say in my mind, I want to do this, and here I am.”
Fast forward to 2008. Duno returns to IndyCar with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing with an 11-race schedule and teammate former Indy 500 champion Buddy Rice. “I have an advantage now. We have so much more information about the cars.” Another advantage for her this year is the racing experience of team co-owner Robbie Buhl. “I am working with Robbie as a driver coach. Since beginning, we have good communication. There are many people with experience, but not everyone knows how to teach, how to transmit information, and he knows very well how to do that, and that is what I need.”
As for Duno, like the rest of the boys, she just wants to join Patrick in Victory Lane.
“To me it’s interesting that (Patrick) won,” Duno said. “But when I win my race, it will be more interesting for me.”
