Dale Coyne Racing driver Milka Duno has been criticized heavily this season for her inability to keep pace on the track and as a result, she hasn’t been much more than a moving chicane. Today, the Indy Racing League finally decided to do something about it.
According to a League statement, Duno has been placed on probation until Dec. 31, 2010 for failing to meet “minimal performance standards” on a consistent basis. The League went on to demand that the Venezuelan make “immediate and substantial improvement to her driving” for the rest of the season. Duno will have the chance to protest the ruling.
The performance standards of the IZOD IndyCar Series are measured in terms of time on road/street courses (107 percent of the lead car and speed on ovals (10 miles per hour of the lead car. Other elements such as car control/placement and interaction with other cars on-track are also part of the standards.
I’m sure many drivers, fans and media types are muttering the same phrase that I’m about to mutter: It’s about time.
There’s no mystery as to why she’s managed to hang around in IndyCar for this long (*cough*CITGO*cough*), but it remains maddening nonetheless. From the time she started in the series, it truly appears that she’s regressed throughout the duration of her career. It can also be argued that 2010 has been the nadir of her regression: She’s been yanked early from two events and has finished outside the top 20 in all of the races so far this season.
It’s been said that her sponsorship dollars have enabled DCR to be a two-car team with Alex Lloyd in the other entry, which raises a couple of questions: If Duno were fired or otherwise removed from her duties, what happens to the team and to Lloyd? And with that in mind, is it worth dropping her? Perhaps this is why we’re just seeing probation here.
But after the season is over, something permanent must be done if Duno fails to improve. It’s been all too clear, for far too long, that she simply doesn’t have the chops for IndyCar racing and that she should have gotten them a long time ago in the open-wheel feeder leagues.
