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MILKA DUNO - FIRESTONE INDY 400 PRE-RACE
CITGO Racing Unveils New Car; Tomas Enge Returns to Assist with Setup

Brooklyn, Mich. (July 30, 2007) -  IndyCar Series rookie driver Milka Duno will take to the Michigan International Speedway in a new #23 CITGO Racing Dallara Honda at the Firestone Indy 400 on Sunday, August 5.  Duno's original car becomes the backup car.

The Firestone Indy 400 will be Duno's sixth race with the IndyCar Series and
her first time at the Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile D-shaped oval. The race track is known for its 18-degree banking and sweeping turns that allow the drivers to run three and sometimes four cars wide.

Also, for the second time, the team has asked Tomas Enge to assist in setting up the car. Enge, who has significant experience in the IndyCar series, helped Duno and the team at the Nashville Superspeedway in July and has been a driver with the SAMAX Motorsport Team in the Grand-American Rolex Sports Car Series.

Milka Duno's comments:

"I am so excited coming to Michigan with a new car, and now the use of a backup car.  Most teams have the winter months to prepare.  Unfortunately we didn't have this luxury and we have been a little on the back foot with testing and preparation of a second car.   I knew with our late entry that this year was going to be a challenge and I am grateful to CITGO and the team for all their hard work to get to this point.  But, to be in the IndyCar Series is something I had wanted for many years and when the opportunity presented itself, although last minute, I had to go for it."

Peter Baron's comments, SAMAX team principal:


Everyone on the CITGO Racing/SAMAX Motorsport Team is excited about the new car's unveiling because it is an essential component to Milka's continuing development.  Over the past 3 months, the team has taken the Dallara car, which is delivered unassembled, and painstakingly built the car for Milka to maximize speed and performance on high speed ovals.  In comparison to the original car, originally a road course car built for lower speeds and turning both left and right, it required several modifications for it to be and oval car.  But due to time constraints, we never had the time to optimize the car for turning left at 200+ mph."

CITGO, based in Houston, is a refiner, marketer and transporter of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals, refined waxes, asphalt and other industrial products.  The company has been a major sponsor of American racing for 21 years in such series as NASCAR, Grand-Am Racing and now the IndyCar series.  CITGO is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.  For more information on CITGO visit www.citgo.com.


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