MILKA DUNO AND ANDY WALLACE RACE AT LAGUNA SECA!

Denver, NC (May 3, 2005) . When the 2005 Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series schedule was released and the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was listed, many smiles were seen on the faces of the Howard-Boss Motorsports Team. And, with good reason. Both of the drivers of the #2 CITGO Pontiac Crawford, Andy Wallace and Milka Duno, had a record of success at the 2.238-mile course and were coming off their first top five finish of the season together at Fontana (fourth) in the previous race.

However, somewhere between the high expectations and the checkered flag, things went awry. The historic weekend at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca began on a positive note as the #2 CITGO entry posted consistent practice speeds that ranked among the top ten in the field. Duno was selected to qualify the car on Saturday afternoon and her best lap, 1:29.493 / 77.769 mph, placed her 22nd on the starting grid. The qualifying session was limited to 15 minutes and then reduced by 5 minutes due to an accident. With only 10 minutes of actual qualifying time broken up into two 5-minute green flag runs it proved difficult to score a fast lap time in the top ten - where the car had consistently run in all the previous practice sessions.

Race day at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca brought an enthusiastic crowd and beautiful weather to the track for the Road & Track 250. However, the beautiful day turned overcast for the Howard-Boss Motorsports crew during morning practice for the race. Duno managed to avoid two Porsches that had spun on the course, but was rammed in the left side by a Daytona Prototype that had failed to react and brake in time. The #2 CITGO car received extensive damage and the Max Crawford led team began their race against the clock to get the car repaired to start the race. Determination and teamwork prevailed as the crew worked feverishly for nearly two hours to replace body panels and repair damage to the car.

Their work enabled the #2 CITGO Pontiac Crawford to start the race in its original qualified position. The excitement was not over yet for the Howard-Boss Motorsports crew as Duno radioed the crew early in the race that she had to pit with a tire problem. Duno made her stop on lap 15 for tires and fuel. The left rear tire was indeed down and the wheel rim damaged in several places. Duno fought hard for the next 51 laps to try and recover the lost time due to the tire problem and resulting green flag pit stop and was able to advance the car to 20th overall before handing it over to her co-driver Andy Wallace.

Duno was also able to shorten the gap to her competitors ahead and combined with the team's pit strategy this left Wallace in a good position to advance. Along with receiving four fresh tires and fuel, Andy Wallace climbed aboard the CITGO Pontiac Crawford and began the final stint of the day. A determined Wallace began to work his way through race traffic to gain as many positions and points as possible in the remaining laps. Wallace wisely took advantage of two restarts during his stint to gain position and advanced to 13th when the final caution of the race waved on lap 96. The race would end under the caution with the #2 CITGO Pontiac Crawford credited with a 13th-place finish.

"It was just one of those days that you have every now and then in racing," Wallace stated after the event. "The car was really good in morning practice and then the accident occurred. The team did a marvelous job just getting the car to the grid. I just had a lot of work to do in a short period, and, with the cautions at the end, simply ran out of time. I think that I could have gained a couple more spots if we could have finished green."