As IndyCar Series teams try to scrap together enough money to go racing in 2009, one squad will be in good shape heading into the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in April. Lincolnshire, Ill.-based Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing has acquired the driving services (and financial backing) of Milka Duno.
The Venezuelan female racer rose to fame last year not for her success on the track, but instead from a highly publicized shoving match with Danica Patrick that was caught on camera – becoming a YouTube sensation (below).
Now, Duno, who scored a best finish of 14th last year, moves to one of the most fabled teams in open-wheel racing, bringing an alleged $6 million in in sponsorship with her. SPEEDtv.com’s Robin Miller broke the news last week and sheds some light into the situation.
It’s truly a sign of the times when open-wheel stars such as Justin Wilson, Paul Tracy and Ryan Hunter-Reay are left without rides, but a driver a substantial amount of funding can walk in and secure a drive. Duno lacks experience in IndyCars, and many argue she sometimes poses to be a danger on track, especially on high-speed ovals.
Of course this isn’t the first time where a driver’s money has put he or she in a top ride, but perhaps teams are so cash-scrapped, they’ll do anything to survive. It will be interesting to see how this impacts IndyCar racing, and the whole sport in general.
I couldn’t help but stare in amazement Saturday evening as Raphael Matos took the checkered flag to claim his maiden Daytona Prototype race win in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season-ending race at Miller Motorsports Park. The young Brazilian, along with season-long co-drivers Ian James and John Pew, scored Michael Shank Racing’s second consecutive win, and first for the Ford-powered No. 6 machine.
photo by: Grand-Am
Matos took control of the 1000km race in the closing stages when his crew got him out ahead of the competition after pit stops during a late caution. Once the field got the green, Matos took off and pulled away from everyone. Nobody was able to catch him in the end.
The fact that just two weeks earlier, Matos was standing in victory lane at Chicagoland Speedway, holding the Indy Lights title in his hands. It was his third professional championship, adding to his Star Mazda and Atlantic titles earned in 2005 and 2007, respectively. He also won the Skip Barber National Championship in 2003.
Matos has been a poster child for Mazda, as most of his success has come with the Japanese brand. He claimed his first sports car victory earlier this year in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, piloting a SpeedSource Mazda RX-8.
With a win in the opening and closing Rolex Series events of 2008, and in two different classes, Matos becomes one of the only, if not the first, multi-class winner in the Rolex Series (since the DP’s introduction in 2003).
Now, Matos is onto his next challenge, teaming with Ben Devlin and Gerardo Bonilla in B-K Motorsports’ brand-new Lola B08/86 Mazda in next weekend’s Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. The LMP2 Coupe will be a new challenge for all three, as they go up against the mights of Porsche and Acura. But given Matos’ track record this year, don’t count anything out.
Last Sunday’s IndyCar season-ending race at Chicagoland Speedway was too close to call. In fact, officials declared Scott Dixon as the race winner, where it had in fact been Helio Castroneves. Timing and Scoring had said Dixon won, but official video showed the Castroneves’ Team Penske Dallara-Honda ahead.
It took close to 10 minutes for officials to decide on a victor. Moments after Dixon had climbed from his car in victory lane and already started post-race interviews, officials declared Castroneves the winner - by 0.0033 seconds - the second closest finish in IndyCar history. A mere 12 and 1/8 inches separated Dixon from the win, the he still celebrated as the 2008 champion.
This dramatic finish was my introduction to covering IndyCar racing, as I’d was on assignment in Joliet, IL covering the race for Motorsport.com. I’d been a fan of open-wheel racing my entire life, but writing about it was all relatively new. The atmosphere was definitely different to what I’m used to in sports car racing. I narrowed the differences down primarily to the fact that it was an oval race.
On typical American Le Mans Series race weekends, I usually observe one or two of the practice sessions from a grandstand, as you can analyze a driver’s method of attack for certain corners. This obviously is not possible at an oval race, leaving me stuck in the media center watching everything from the tv feeds. This was just one of the new things I’d realized. Overall, though, it was a fresh experience, and I’m sure I’ll do it again in the future.
In terms of the race, there were some entertaining moments. One had to be when Milka Duno was out front for five laps because of fuel strategy. Nearly everyone in the media center shared some laughs when ESPN/ABC broadcaster Marty Reid announced that she was leading. But make no jokes about it, because if the race had stayed green, Duno would have most likely been put back in the lead. While it would have been very unlikely for her to pull off a win, a top-10 could have been a possibility. Anyway, I still find it funny that Duno led more laps this season than Danica Patrick. Duno had five laps led to her credit, compared to Patrick’s four, despite winning the Motegi round in April.
Twenty-eight cars started the season-finale, making it one of the highest car counts of the season. There could be even more teams joining for 2009, which could fill the field to 33 starters. If more than 33 show up to a race weekend, it would mean bumping for the slowest cars. Wouldn’t that be something to see again at a place other than Indy?
