Texas Speedzone - “The Fast And The Furious – Female Edition” coming to TMS

Texas Motor Speedway

“The Fast And The Furious – Female Edition” Coming Soon To TMS With Patrick, Fisher and Duno Scheduled To Compete In Bombardier Learjet 550k

Fort Worth, TX (May 9, 2007) – "Danicamania” swept through Texas Motor Speedway in 2005 and left an indelible impression, and now the speedway is preparing for the “The Fast and the Furious – Female Edition” at next month’s Bombardier Learjet 550k.

Danica Patrick, who rose to national prominence
following a fourth-place finish at the Indianapolis 500 in 2005, will not only be tackling the male-dominant field at the Bombardier Learjet 550k but also two female counterparts - Milka Duno and Sarah Fisher.

Milka Duno, who made her IndyCar Series debut with SAMAX Motorsport recently at Kansas to officially kick off “Milka-mania.” It also marked the first time in IndyCar Series history that three women competed in the same race.

The growing diversity of the IndyCar Series field is impressive and offers another interesting twist for the Bombardier Learjet 550k – “America’s Original Nighttime Race” – that should intrigue fans.

“Indy car racing is the one sport where women competing is not a sideshow,” Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said.

“Consider the results. Sarah Fisher has finished
second in an Indy car race and has won a pole position. Danica Patrick finished fourth in the Indy 500, the biggest sporting event in the world. Milka Duno is a relative newcomer with a short record, but excelled in sports cars. These women aren’t a novelty, they are the real deal. Expect to see one of them in Victory Lane before the year is out,
perhaps at Texas.”

Patrick made her first start at TMS right after gaining national prominence from her stunning finish in the 2005 Indianapolis 500. She was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated that week and Texas Motor Speedway celebrated her accomplishment by having a live,week-long giant mural recreating the cover painted on the speedway’s towering marquee.

Sarah Fisher, after taking a shot at NASCAR racing
the past few years, returned fulltime to the IndyCar Series with Dreyer and Reinbold this season and still reigns as the most accomplished female driver in series history.

“I’ve seen a great deal in 28 years in this business, but nothing tops the high point of ‘Danica-mania’ that started here in 2005,” Gossage aid. “Someone compared it to Beatlemania in the early ‘60s. That’s probably overstating it, but it was over the top. The fan interest, media interest and sponsor interest was incredibly high. Adults – fans and
media – were literally falling over themselves acting in embarrassing ways. It was clear at
times that it overwhelmed the people around her.”

Fisher has the most direct tie with her first career IndyCar Series start coming at “The Great American Speedway!”in the 1999 season finale,where she started 17th and finished 25th. When she competes in the Bombardier Learjet 550k on June 9, it will mark her first appearance at Texas Motor Speedway since 2003.

“I had been aware of Sarah by following her career through the midget and sprint car ranks, but was stunned by her as a 19 year-old about to make her IndyCar debut at Texas,” Gossage said.“ She was not what I expected – shy, quiet and didn’t come across as someone with a great deal of self confidence. Champions in all sports have a certain cockiness about them and Sarah didn’t demonstrate this to me at the time. But she’s grown
and matured so much since then and is a much more mature and confident person. I can
tell by looking in her eyes that she has that ‘something special’ quality.”

The newest addition is the striking Venezuelan rookie Milka Duno.

Texas Motor Speedway nearly had a tie to Duno as well. The latest to the trio was scheduled to conduct her rookie test here in April, but the session was cancelled and later rescheduled for Kansas Speedway.

“Milka has a strong record in sports car racing and brings an interesting resume to Texas,” Gossage said.“ Everyone needs to realize that she only has one IndyCar Series race under her belt. She is raw. Indy will give her a good deal of seat time because practice, qualifying and the race take up most of a month. We should know more about her abilities at the end of the month. If she shows marked improvement during the month of May
– as Danica did in 2005 – then she has potential. If not, she may unfortunately be out of her league.”

Of the group, Patrick owns the best qualifying effort at Texas Motor Speedway with a starting position of third in 2005. Fisher has the best TMS finish – 11th on two occasions.

So who is Gossage putting his money on to finish the highest among the female trio at the Bombardier Learjet 550k?

“This comes down to Danica and Sarah,” he said. “I’ve always been impressed with Sarah and think she is a great talent. But Danica is driving for Andretti Green Racing and they have a tremendous depth of resources. As a result, you’ve got to pick Danica. It would be interesting if they were in equal equipment to see who really is better. But given the equipment Danica has to work with,you have to pick her. Milka is simply too new to factor into the equation at this point.”