Most of the NASCAR news over the past week has been centered around Danica Patrick and her official announcement of signing with JR Motorsports to compete in ARCA and the Nationwide Series the next couple of seasons.
Another female driver from another form of motorsports looks to be waiting in the wings to also invade the NASCAR world, though.
Milka Duno, a winning American LeMans Series driver, will participate in an ARCA test for Braun Racing at Daytona International Speedway, driving a No. 90 Toyota for Braun Dec. 18-20 at the track.
“This will be a new challenge for me and one that I’ve been looking forward to,” Duno said. “I know it won’t be easy – it will be hard work – but work that I’m ready to take on.”
Duno has been approached by several teams several times about climbing behind the wheel of a stock car. According to Duno, her original racing career goal was to make it to the open-wheel ranks in the United States to compete in the Indianapolis 500.
She has since accomplished that goal, and is now open to the idea of giving stock car racing a try.
“I just completed my third season in IndyCar, and this year I decided not to once again pass on an opportunity to get behind the wheel of a stock car," Duno said.
Braun Racing actually started as an ARCA team in 2002 and moved up to NASCAR Nationwide Series competition a year later. Team owner Todd Braun is now interested in putting Duno in an ARCA car and moving her up to NASCAR, too.
"When Milka and I met, I expressed an interest in testing her in a stock car,” Braun said. “The interest was mutual and we were more than happy to make it a reality. We discussed that in order to compete in NASCAR a driver must first participate in an ARCA Racing Series test. She is a very talented driver and has experienced success in both sportscar and open-wheel racing. The natural progression would be for her to drive a stock car. I have always enjoyed working with drivers new to stock car racing and I look forward to the ARCA Racing Series test with Milka."
An ARCA schedule for Duno hasn't been announced, and specific plans to move to the Nationwide Series are undetermined.
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