Life In The Fast Lane: A Conversation With IndyCar’s Latina Diva Milka Duno
The Indy Racing League made its eighth annual stop at Nashville Superspeedway on the weekend of July 11th and 12th. This year’s race was special as the driver lineup included nine Hispanic/Latino participants representing Brazil, Spain and Venezuela.
Included in the lineup of driving and off-track superstars were Brazil’s Helio Castroneves (eSpanglish April-May-June 2008) and Venezuelan Milka Duno. To be one of less then thirty drivers considered expert enough to drive in the prestigious IndyCars Series would be the pinnacle to most careers. However, IRL driver is just one of the professional fields that this beautiful lady has conquered. In addition to a racing career that includes being the first Latina to qualify and race in the Indy 500 (2007) and one of the most successful female drivers in Sports Car racing history, Ms. Duno’sresume includes Education Activist & Speaker, Author, Actress, Marketing Spokesperson, Cover & Spread Model and Master’s Degrees in Naval Architecture, Maritime Business, Organizational Development and Aquaculture.
Milka was making her second Nashville IndyCar appearance this past July. She drives the number twenty-three, Citgo sponsored car for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. I was privileged to interview her that Saturday race day afternoon. This was my first meeting with Milka and I found her to be very gracious, intelligent, soft spoken but passionate and humorous. Perhaps most important, she’s very grateful for the opportunities in her life and uses her success to “give back” to others.
Opening Comment: Milka, it’s very nice to meet you and welcome back to Nashville.
Milka: “Thank you so much.”
Q: This is your second year at this track. Last year, there was a problem in practice...
Milka: “(laughs) Let’s don’t remember last year.”
Q: OK, I’ll say that we missed you last year on race day but welcome back in 2008.
Milka: “Yes, I was missing to be here to but now (laughs),it’s another year.”
Q. Your quest to being a professional racing driver is certainly not the normal. You devoted the first years of your adult life to education, attaining four Master’s Degrees.....
Milka: “I think racing was in my destiny because I never thought that I would be a racecar driver, I was dreaming to be a naval engineer for what I was earning a Master’s Degree for. But when I returned (to Venezuela) from Spain in 1999 where I was studying for three degrees simultaneously (Milka received a scholarship from the Spanish Embassy to study in Madrid), some friends of mine invited me to a racing clinic. I participated, it was very good and after it, I got into an amateur club. I was winning races and I wanted to get into racing in a serious way. I wanted someone to teach me, I wanted to lean about racing so I came to the US for racing school. A few weeks later, I was called to race in Formula (2000 Dodge) series and now…..I am here.”
(Milka is modest in reference to her very diverse and successful racing career. She is the first Latina driver to be classified “expert” and has competed and won in several racing series such as the American Le Mans and Rolex Sports Car. She has raced internationally and driven an impressive selection of cars including Porsche, Ferrari and Daytona Prototype. Her team finished 2nd overall in the 2007 “The 24 Hours of Daytona” making her the first woman for a podium appearance in the 45 year history of the race.)
Q: 2008 is your second part-time season in the IndyCar Series, you are splitting seat time with teammate Townsend Bell, how challenging has the experience been?
Milka: “Townsend made some races and I did other races..... (passionately) we both want to run all the Championship (season) but to do that we need sponsors.....I need more sponsors to run the full season. It’s so important, sponsorship is the only way you can improve and be more competitive. We need to do more testing, more time for developing the car, more practice time in our system. I am very limited in races and practice time.”
Q: Your professional racing background is primarily road course circuits yet; last weekend (July 5th/6th) was your IndyCar road course debut at Watkins Glen. Why haven’t there been more road course and street starts?
Milka: “Last year we did seven races, this year we are doing eleven. The sponsor chooses the market where he wants to be. It’s very important to them race wise in marketing Citgo. At Watkins Glen it was my first time there in the IndyCar and I was not ‘feeling’ the car.....even though I come from road courses it’s not easy, you have to understand the limit of the car and what it can do, you have to learn about the car.....but I’m a fast leaner, I will prove that.....but when you have a limited budget, you can’t do everything.”
Q: Tonight at Nashville you are starting sixteenth on the grid (twenty four cars qualified). What are your goals for tonight’s race and for the remainder of the season?
Milka: “I want to finish in the top ten in this race.....in every race I want to do better than the race before.....as always, I will try to do the best I can.”
(Milka finished seventeenth in the rain shortened Nashville race. However, the oval track’s all concrete surface is a challenge to the most seasoned veteran driver. She did succeed in her goal to have a better finish than her previous race at Watkins Glen.)
Q: Have you put a time table on your racing career?
Milka: “I have no idea, a few years more. I’m just beginning in this Championship, I want to win races in this Championship.....I feel I have to work for more years.”
Q: With four Master’s Degrees, education is obviously very important to you.....
Milka: “Education is the most important thing you can do. Always I’m working hard, visiting schools, high schools (Milka was her class valedictorian) and universities talking to people about the value of education. I like to do that. I feel so happy when a father says to me ‘Milka my daughter wants to be like you but also wants to study so much like you.’ This is the key message, they must understand that they have to study, that education is the key to their future and to be successful in their life.”
Q: There was an announcement made in Washington D.C. on July 9th that you have entered into a partnership with MANA (a national nonprofit Latina organization whose mission is to empower Latina activists working to improve the quality of life for all Hispanics) to create MANA Milka Way. Please explain.....
Milka: “Milka Way is a program designed to help and encourage the young people, the young girls to stay in school, develop values, self-esteem, pride and responsibility. The more that we do to encourage the young kids; we will have a better world. I have support for the program from Wal-Mart, State Farm Insurance and Southwest Airlines as corporate sponsors. Their help is so needed and important in helping to spread this message.”
Comment: I can see and hear in you the passion and commitment to this cause.....
Milka: “Yes, totally! I want the kids to understand that they have to study. I feel so happy.....so special because I am lucky to be doing the things that I want, I had the opportunity for an education, I have a job, good health.....I feel so fortunate, I feel the responsibility to help the people in need.....to give back. I try to help anybody because I’ve had so much luck and I appreciate what I have.”
Q: You are originally from Caracas, Venezuela (Milka now resides in Miami, FL). President Chavez is a controversial person in the US, are you political or follow politics?
Milka: “Hum..... (laughs) no politics, just an athlete.....just an athlete who gives positive message to young people about education.”
Q: Do you get back to Venezuela for visits?
Milka: “Sadly no…..not as often as I would like, I’m so busy in my life.”
Q: You have written a children’s book, Go Milka Go!, what is the message?
Milka: “OK, this is part of the program of visiting the schools. Many fathers and mothers were telling me ‘you have to write something for the young kids, something about your life.’ You have to start with the little ones because they are the ones to take the message. The book talks about my life from school to being a racecar driver. But along with the history, we talk about very important values, important keys to having a higher probability to being successful in life.”
Q: Is the book bi-lingual?
Milka: “Yes, it’s a bi-lingual book.”
Q: Where can the readers purchase or order Go Milka Go!?
Milka: “They can order at milkaduno.com or Amazon.com…..we are working to have in some shops but they can find it at the website now.”
Q: Will there be more books in the future?
Milka: “Yes, this is the plan to continue.”
(Milka presented me with a copy of Go Milka Go!. It’s a very delightful book for children of all ages. Easy reading and a very colorfully animated story of her life and the messages for learning and success, highly recommend.)
Q: You made your silver screen debut as “Kellie Gearbox” in this year’s movie version of “Speedracer”. How was that experience?
Milka: “(laughs) It was pretty good…..it was a different world, a different experience. I took the opportunity it presented…..but it was nice. It was a small role but very important for me to be there to learn from it.”
Q. How were you cast for the part?
Milka: “That was a surprise to; it was not something I was looking for. They contacted my manager and we could not believe someone was calling me to be part of the “Speedracer” movie. One thing to another and I was in Germany for ten days filming my scenes.”
Q. Did you attend the film’s premier and walk the red carpet?
Milka: “No…..I was racing in Kansas the same weekend it opened. The day the movie premiered, I was in qualifying…..I did not have time to go and get back to the track.”
Q: Would you like to do more acting?
Milka: “(laughs) Yes, yes I would like that.”
Q: To overview Milka Duno, you are a very diverse person…..beautiful woman, very intelligent, accomplished race driver, model, spokeswoman, activist, author and actress. Is there any one aspect of your inspiring life or career that you are most proud of?
Milka: “I’m so proud about my education because it was so hard. I got my first Master’s Degree and was offered a scholarship to study in Spain. I told myself I had to take full advantage of this opportunity. I did three Master’s simultaneously and was in two universities. It was my goal at that moment but so, so hard. I didn’t think I was going to finish. I’m also very proud of my career and accomplishments in racing. But I want more; I want to win in IndyCars. I’m extremely competitive and I want to do better and better in the Championship.”
Closing Comments: Thank you very much for taking your time to do this interview for eSpanglish and for the hospitality, you are very charming. Best wishes to you for the remainder of the racing season and success for your endeavors, you are such a positive influence.
Milka: “Thank you so much…..thank you for coming here.”
By Reid Davis
Reid Davis lives in Nashville, TN and is a freelance motorsports journalist specializing in open-wheel racing.
