TERRE HAUTE — Danica Patrick hopped from fifth to No. 2 in Harris Interactive’s annual poll of most popular female sports star — the IRL’s Patrick is sandwiched between the two Williams sisters (Serena at No. 1, Venus falling from last year’s top spot to third this year).
Patrick has helped keep the IRL in the national spotlight outside of Memorial Day weekend and was up to seventh in the point standings before her crash in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 250 dropped her to eighth.
Indy Racing League rookie Milka Duno is still learning the IRL ropes and hasn’t had near the impact Patrick has on her sport. At least not yet.
Patrick led the Indy 500 in her rookie year of 2005. Duno has yet to lead a lap this year — Patrick has led all of three — and the Venezuelan failed to finish the inaugural Iowa race, which was only her fourth race in the IRL to no fault of her own (wheel bearing failure).
Duno, who was drawn to the IRL because of the prestige and challenge that comes with racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, admittedly has much to learn.
“I like a difficult challenge,” Duno said in Wednesday’s IRL teleconference. “Everything in my life is difficult because I like every difficult challenge. I like when I have to stay and work so hard to get what I’m looking for.”
But unlike Danica — who ventured to England at age 16 to race in the top junior series in the world — Duno never expected to be a race-car driver. Duno began racing in Venezuela in 1996 and by 2001 was the only female driver running a regular schedule in the American Le Mans Series.
Patrick gets more than her share of criticism for not finding her way to victory lane yet, but taking 12th in the points standings in her rookie year of 2005 was impressive. Duno has nine races to climb from her current place of 19th, but it looks like an uphill battle with veteran drivers in front of her in the standings.
But by the time next year’s Indy 500 rolls around, Duno, a naval engineer with four master’s degrees, will have learned the intricacies of racing an Indy car.
“I was racing in road cars all the time since I started in 1999 in racing. I’ve now transitioned. I’m adapting. This is a year for learning. It’s a process, I’m learning in every single race. All the time I’m asking the instructor or the super drivers like Al Unser and Rick Mears and Johnny Rutherford and all the people that surround me, I try to take full advantage of the spirit they have for learning in a fast way.”
She said this season is a learning experience for her whole team and the Iowa race was her first experience on a short oval. She’ll get to see how much she’s learned on another short oval Saturday night at Richmond International Speedway.
“I have only raced at Kansas, Indy, which are fast ovals. The short oval is different, everything is different. And it’s very, very tough, very hard for me. It was very hard, because it was my first time, my first short oval, and I only had a few practices, I had to adjust so fast and so quick. Every time I’m on the track, I’m learning about everything, looking for the balance of the car and learning to understand the draft and know how it races in an oval. But I think this experience I have this weekend is going to help me for Richmond in the ovals again.”
Patrick and Duno were in jeopardy of being in the shadow of the IRL’s veteran woman driver after Friday night’s qualifying, but qualifying was rained out and today’s lineup was decided by points. Sarah Fisher, coming off a seventh-place finish at Iowa, had started in second twice in three starts at Richmond. Patrick’s 10th-place finish is the best among the ladies at the 3/4-mile track, however.
It will be interesting to see what the engineer Duno learned from last week and how she continues to progress.
By this time next year, it’s conceivable Patrick might have some company in the Harris poll by an athlete in her own sport.
Craig Pearson can be reached by e-mail at craig.pearson@tribstar.com or by phone at (812) 231-4357.
Given to Fly
June 29, 2007
Given to Fly: IRL’s Patrick, Duno working toward respect in racing world
- Given to Fly
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GIVEN TO FLY: Come to expect new standards of excellence
Records are definitely meant to be broken; athletes today are faster and stronger than those in the past in many endeavors in athletics.
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GIVEN TO FLY: ISU women have solid recruiting class
The caliber of athletes that the Indiana State women’s basketball coaching staff is bringing in is on an upswing.
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GIVEN TO FLY: Major leaguers John, Dorsett meet up at tonight’s game
Terre Haute’s only two big leaguers of the last 50 years — Tommy John and Brian Dorsett — will catch up with one another today.
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FOOT NOTES: Valley natives perform well on national stage
Several Wabash Valley natives continue to shine on the national track and field scene.
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'Til It's Over: Sycamores ‘in a good place,’ but searching for more in MVC
Can Teri Moren lift Indiana State, last year’s seventh-place team in the Missouri Valley Conference, to one of the league’s contenders in her first year on campus?
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'Til It's Over: Two sets of identical twins should keep North Central baseball a contender
The last high school baseball team standing in the Wabash Valley was the North Central, the Thunderbirds falling short 4-3 in the Class A Semistate on Saturday just one game shy of Victory Field.
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'Til It's Over: Jarvis, Anderson confident Olney, hard work leads to Division I dream
Olney, Ill., population 8,000-plus and known for its population of white squirrels, might not be the dream destination for high school basketball players in Indiana.
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'Til It's Over: Robinson 7-footer more focused in postseason; 6-foot Jones keeps producing
Robinson 7-footer Meyers Leonard is not going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA some day, but his odds of reaching the league are pretty solid if his game continues to evolve as it has during high school.
- 'Til It's Over: ‘Stepping stone’ game points Sycamores in right direction Whether the win comes against a top-25 team or a conference pushover, ending a four-game losing streak is always a relief.
- 'Til It's Over: Indianapolis ISU recruit rolling along in senior season As Indiana State recruit Anna Munn approached Christmas with the Decatur Central basketball team, the senior guard didn’t seem to need much of a wishlist.
- 'Til It's Over: Magic’s still there for '79 Sycamores For the former Indiana State players who visited the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in late November, the weekend was a chance to relive memories with teammates and see Larry Bird’s career with the Sycamores celebrated again.
- CRAIG PEARSON: North has strong history in cross country state finals Vigo County is home to just four IHSAA state championships in team sports. Most recently, Terre Haute South won girls titles in basketball (2002) and tennis (2001).
- 'Till It's Over: It’s been rough year but no need to break up Cubs' core Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry is only in the first year of a three-year contract, and aren’t back-to-back division championships enough to keep him around despite this year’s season filled with bad luck?
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- ‘Walking wounded’: ISU seniors return to provide spark All three ISU seniors will graduate in May, and all three will be in uniform today as Indiana State battles Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament quarterfinals.
- Given to Fly: Northview standout runner Thacker coming to ISU Doc Brown told an old-timer in a saloon in “Back to the Future III” that despite having automobiles in the future people run for recreation.
- Given to Fly: Schilli’s Rodman-like performance aids ISU With Indiana State’s women’s basketball team ranking eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference in field-goal percentage (36.5), the Sycamores need as many shot attempts as possible to maintain their standing on top of the league.
- Given to Fly: A classic in every sense of the word What tournament director and co-founder Gary Fears had in mind when creating the tournament came to fruition Tuesday. Marshall, with an enrollment of 438 students, became the smallest school to win the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic in the ninth season of the tourney.
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Given to Fly: ISU women should build confidence off strong outing
Indiana State did not pull off the monumental upset Saturday against No. 23 Kansas State, but the Wildcats are —aside from Connecticut in 2005 — the best team the Sycamores have played in the Jim Wiedie era.
- Given to Fly: ISU women's hoops team slides onto commercial radio Coach Jim Wiedie expects the Indiana State women’s basketball team to have a bit of a retro feel this season, meaning the Sycamores have the potential to get back to creating havoc with their full-court press.
- Given to Fly: ISU vets hope to prove pundits wrong Indiana State’s only two seniors were surprised to see they were picked ahead of just three Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball teams Tuesday morning.
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Footnotes: In first marathon, former Sycamore comes out a winner
Indiana State graduate Dani Prince made her debut in the event with a victory in the Columbus Marathon on Sunday.
Prince’s goal was a time under 2 hours and 50 minutes, and she ran a 2:48.56. -
Given To Fly: ISU volleyball turning things around
It was an extremely busy weekend for Indiana State athletics this weekend.
- Footnotes: Here’s hoping perfect weather is still around for Nationals in November The weather made for a perfect fall afternoon Saturday at LaVern Gibson Championship Course. For what it’s worth, the Farmer’s Almanac calls for more sunny conditions from Nov. 20-24, with the NCAA Championships falling on the 24th this year.
- Terre Haute natives cherish memories of ‘House that Ruth Built’ Yankee Stadium was packed as usual on Easter Sunday in 1979. George Steinbrenner’s Yankees were one loss away from being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers to start the season. That was no way for the two-time defending World Series champions to perform, so the boss had a conversation with his new veteran left-handed starting pitcher prior to the game.
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Footnotes: Oregon men and women have strangehold on preseason NCAA cross countryrankings
The Oregon men and women were almost both unanimous picks as the No. 1 teams in the nation in the preseason cross country national rankings released recently.
- Given to Fly: Bronze medalist has strong ISU ties One of the remarkable American medalists of this 2008 Olympics thus far also provided one of the most sparkling stories in the brief history of the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course here in Terre Haute.
- Former ISU QB gets back to Amarillo This week, Indiana State signed its most highly-touted football prospect in years, and former quarterback Julian Reese is ripping it up for the Amarillo Dusters of Arena2.
- Indiana State track sending strong group to NCAA regional Three sophomore women and three senior men lead a large Indiana State contingent of track and field athletes into the NCAA Mideast Regional this weekend at Fayetteville, Ark.
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