Milka Duno wins Talladega pole

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Milka Duno, in the No. 35 CanTV-Milkaway Toyota, became the first female ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards driver since 1988 to win the pole at Talladega Superspeedway Thursday afternoon.

 

Duno had the second-fastest time in the Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell but when the time of Venturini Motorsports teammate John Wes Townley was disallowed following post-qualifying inspection, Duno was announced as the pole winner.

 

“This is fantastic,” Duno said following her award. “We have been trying, trying, trying for the pole ever since Daytona. All day, I made my crew chief (Kevin Caldwell) crazy, saying ‘what do we need to do?'”

 

The times of four cars were disallowed. Each of those drivers will start at the rear of the field in Friday’s International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250. The race will begin at 4 p.m. (Central Standard Time) and will be broadcast live on SPEED.

 

Duno is the fourth female to win an ARCA pole award, including Moise, Shawna Robinson and Erin Crocker. Moise is the only other female pole winner at Talladega, claiming two poles at the 2.66-mile superspeedway in 1988.

 

The rest of the top five include Mason Mingus, Grant Enfinger, Justin Boston and Caleb Armstrong.

 

Mingus will enter the race second in the championship point race, Enfinger won the pole and race at Mobile earlier this year while Boston and Armstrong are the other Venturini Motorsports cars.

 

After inspection, ARCA racing officials said the qualifying efforts of Bobby Gerhart, Korbin Forrestor, Mark Thompson and Townley were being disallowed following the post-race technical inspection.

 

Duno, 41, qualified second behind Townley at the season-opening Daytona International Speedway race and led the first 11 laps before transmission troubles. Townley won the race. Duno had her career-best ARCA finish at Salem Speedway last weekend.

 

“We are very competitive,” Duno said. “This is great. Now, I must go to my crew chief and talk about being better. I have to run the perfect race.”

 

The Caracas, Venezuela driver is one of the most successful female sports car racers in history. She is a qualified naval engineer and has four master’s degrees. She has participated in the 24 Hours of LeMans, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the Indianapolis 500. She competed in the American LeMans Series championship in the early 2000s before moving to the Rolex Sports Car Series in 2004.

 

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards is making its 51ststart at Talladega. The first ARCA race at Talladega came in 1969.

 

No female driver has won in the ARCA Racing Series in its 61 year history.

                                              

Friday’s Int’l Motorsports Hall of Fame 250 is live on SPEED at 5:00 p.m. ET.

2013 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards Event #4  
Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega Alabama, 5-3-13  
International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250
         
Official Starting Grid    
         
POS NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TIME SPEED
1 35 Milka Duno/Caracas Venezuela 53.652 178.484
2 32 Mason Mingus/Brentwood TN 53.787 178.036
3 90 Grant Enfinger/Fairhope AL 53.805 177.976
4 25 Justin Boston/Baltimore, MD 53.946 177.511
5 55 Caleb Armstrong/New Castle IN 53.987 177.376
6 99 Mason Mitchell/W. Des Moines IA 54.212 176.640
7 23 Spencer Gallagher/Las Vegas NV 54.268 176.458
8 3 Drew Charlson/New Bremen OH 54.536 175.590
9 92 Brennan Newberry/Bakersfield CA 54.549 175.549
10 42 Bo LeMastus/Louisville KY 54.558 175.520
11 44 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN 54.645 175.240
12 77 Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ 54.657 175.202
13 82 Sean Corr/Goshen NY 54.659 175.195
14 88 Buster Graham/Lafayette LA 54.783 174.799
15 6 Ricky Ehrgott/Valrico FL 54.836 174.630
16 68 Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN 54.856 174.566
17 02 Josh Williams/Port Charlotte FL 54.933 174.321
18 13 George Cushman/Waterville NY 55.030 174.014
19 08 Clay Campbell/Martinsville VA 55.105 173.777
20 19 Donnie Neuenberger/Edgewater MD 55.134 173.686
21 10 Cody McMahan/Chilhowie VA 55.148 173.642
22 54 Matt Kurzejewski/Mansfield PA 55.160 173.604
23 69 John Ferrier/Middletown NY 55.425 172.774
24 30 Terry Jones/Amherstburg Ontario 55.596 172.243
25 2 Thomas Praytor/Mobile AL 55.688 171.958
26 34 Darrell Basham/Henryville IN 55.930 171.214
27 40 Galen Hassler/Columbia MO 56.452 169.631
28 97 Roger Carter/Sunfield MI 56.541 169.364
29 94 Barry Fitzgerald/Sykesville MD 56.745 168.755
30 15 John Wes Townley/Watkinsville GA Provisional  
31 48 James Hylton/Inman SC Provisional  
32 22 Korbin Forrister/Cedartown GA Provisional  
33 66 Mark Thompson/Cartersville GA Provisional  
34 06 James Swanson/Clarksboro NJ Provisional  
35 5 Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA Provisional  
36 75 Benny Chastain/Tallahassee FL Provisional

 

ARCA Racing PR

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