March 6, 2008 — You got to love a chick that drives a car at 220 mph. And Milka Duno does that and more. The foxy race-car driver is the first woman in history to win a major international sports-car race in North America by capturing the overall win at the Grand Prix of Miami in 2004.

And she has the highest finish for a female driver in the 46-year history of the 24 Hours of Dayton race. Her Indy 500 average is a whopping 220 mph. But cars are not he only toy this Venezuelan export loves.

PHOTO GALLERY: Milka Duno

She almost hesitantly admits to owning “something like 200″ sunglasses, “many, many, many, many” belts and “a lot” of jeans.

“But why is that important?” asks a buff Duno.

“I have many other accomplishments. Fashion is just part of my Latin culture. All Latin women like to look their best. That’s only normal for us. There are a lot of other more important things about me than fashion.”

This accessory aficionada is a naval engineer by trade who earned four master’s degrees (organizational development, naval architecture, aquaculture and maritime business) by the age of 25 before her life unexpectedly took a sharp turn.

“I went with some friends to race, you know, just for fun,” she explains. “I was the only girl in the group.” And after just a few more tries, she says, “I was winning.”

This year, she is ventureing beyond the race-car circuit.

She plays driver Kellie Gearbox in the upcoming “Speed Racer” flick. And her bilingual kids book, “Go, Milka, Go!” hits stores this month.

“My book is meant to inspire kids to study and earn an education,” Duno says.

[Source]