ARCA - Duno Qualifies 8th For Talladega

TALLADEGA, April 15, 2011: Milka Duno made an impressive debut at Talladega Superspeedway Thursday afternoon with a solid eighth-place qualifying effort for Friday's 3 Amigos 250.

Duno and her Sheltra Motorsports team started the day off strong with a three-hour practice session. The Venezuelan-native completed 37 laps, making only single-car runs. Duno lapped the 2.66-mile track with a best time of 52.165 seconds (183.571 mph), fifth-fastest among the 39-car field.

Looking to back up her practice run, Duno took to Talladega's high-banks with a lot of confidence during qualifying. As the last car to qualify, Duno knew exactly what she needed to do. Rounding the track in a time of 52.644 seconds (181.901 mph), she put the No. 63 CITGO SUPERGARD Toyota eighth on the leaderboard for the start of Friday afternoon's 3 Amigos 250.

While the eighth-place start is a career-best for Duno in what will be only her third ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards start, Duno and her Sheltra Motorsports team were slightly disappointed with the run.

"When you slow up in qualifying and don't know why it is frustrating," said Crew Chief Jon Wolfe. "But we discovered that the right front tire was going flat, which changes the way that the car drives and the attitude of the racecar. Obviously that is very important on the Superspeedways. Milka did a great job today, and I am excited for the race tomorrow. We have a good car."

Duno and team look to take the checkered flag in Friday's 3 Amigos 250. The green flag will drop on the 94-lap event at 4:00 p.m. CDT with live television coverage on SPEED.