Courtsey MilkaDuno.com

LOS ANGELES, CA (June 20, 2010) – Handling issues forced an early end to IndyCar driver Milka Duno’s competition in today’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway. By lap 31 of the 250-lap race it was obvious that the car was just not performing as well as it had in the practice sessions leading up to the race.

In the first practice session for the race Duno was 20th quickest and she picked up four more positions in the second practice session by finishing 16th. In her warm-up qualifying lap Duno was delivering the same pace as the utimate pole winner when the bump in turn 2 spun the car and sent Duno hard into the wall.

The team worked hard on Saturday night and Sunday morning to get Duno’s car back into shape after Saturday’s contact with the wall during qualifying. Late in the night a crack in the bell housing was discovered and the team fitted a new one. Without a warm-up or on track systems check on Sunday before the race, a problem with the left rear brake caliper would cause Duno’s car to pull to the left. Eventually the brake failed and the handling associated with it would end what was another highly competitive weekend for Duno and the number 18 car.

“A big thanks to the crew for working so hard to repair the car in time for today’s race,” said Duno. “We had a really good car and it’s a huge disappointment that it went hard into the wall yesterday. I can tell you that it was a very hard hit and the car was just not the same after that. I feel bad for the team because we had a good car and high hopes and its a shame that we leave here disappointed. We’ll get it all sorted out and we’ll be ready for Watkins Glen July 4!”

“Milka once again showed her skills at Iowa,” commented team owner Dale Coyne. “Running 16th in the field of 25 in the practice session and then having the same out-lap in qualifying as pole winner Will Power showed she can really get around this place competitively.”

Duno drives the #18 CITGO/CANTV car with Dale Coyne Racing.

[News Source]

[Picture Source]