28 Facts About Milka Duno

Milka Duno was born on April 22,1972 and is a Venezuelan former race car driver who competed in the IndyCar Series and ARCA Racing Series.

Milka Duno is best known for holding the record of highest finish for a female driver in the 24 Hours of Daytona.

Milka Duno's racing career is unusual because of her late start.

Milka Duno was introduced to the sport when she was invited to a driving clinic by a car club in Venezuela and did not start racing until she was 24.

Milka Duno began her career as a driver in Venezuela in 1996, finishing 2nd in the Venezuelan GT Championship.

Milka Duno was the first woman in history to win a Ferrari Challenge Race in the USA; at that time she won her first Series Championship, The Panoz GT Series.

Later in 2000, Milka Duno made her American Le Mans Series debut; she was the first woman to finish in a class podium on this championship.

Milka Duno made her 24 Hours of Daytona debut the next year and her 24 Hours of Le Mans debut a year later.

In 2001 and 2003, Milka Duno competed in the World Series by Nissan open-wheel series in Europe; she became the first woman to score points in this championship.

Milka Duno scored an impressive four wins in this class, including the prestigious 10 hours Petit Le Mans, becoming the first woman to score a class win in this major international sportscar competition.

When Milka Duno made the field for the Kansas Lottery Indy 300 on April 29,2007, it marked the first time in North American open wheel history that three women ran in the same race.

Milka Duno stayed out of trouble after qualifying last in the 21-car field and finished 14th.

On May 6,2007, Milka Duno successfully completed her rookie test for the Indianapolis 500 race.

Milka Duno was one of two rookie drivers competing in the Race.

Milka Duno crashed out of the race on lap 65 and finished 31st.

Milka Duno was the highest finishing female, as Danica Patrick and Sarah Fisher placed 22nd and 24th, respectively.

Milka Duno had a best finish of 16th and finished 24th in points.

Milka Duno was among a record number of nine women to participate in ARCA testing in December 2009 at Daytona International Speedway.

Milka Duno competed in 16 of 17 races on the 2010 schedule and the "DNQ" at Indianapolis was the first and only race that she did not qualify for in her 43 race IndyCar Series career.

Milka Duno started in 41st place and had picked up 10 positions before being swept up in a 14-car accident on lap 6, ending her day.

Milka Duno signed with Sheltra Motorsports to race in the ARCA Racing Series' season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway.

Milka Duno had moved up to 12th place with only 16 laps to go when Duno was caught up in a 9-car crash that ended her day and relegated her to 31st place.

Milka Duno was originally awarded the pole position due to qualifying being rained out for the Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care at Toledo Speedway.

Over 21 races in 2013, Milka Duno earned a career-best eighth-place finish at Salem Speedway and a 10th-place finish at Winchester Speedway.

Milka Duno competed in two Nationwide Series races at Kansas Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, crashing out at Kansas and finishing at Homestead.

Milka Duno competed in one Camping World Truck Series race, in 2014 she ran MAKE Motorsports' No 1 truck at Talladega Superspeedway, leading two laps.

In 2008, Milka Duno became a movie actress and a published author.

Milka Duno played the role of Kellie "Gearbox", a race car driver, in the live-action-from-animated Warner Brothers movie Speed Racer.