Milka Duno and Phil Giebler are the only rookies entered in the 2007 Indianapolis 500. Vying for a $25,000 bonus from Chase Bank, their month long performances will be taken in to account as each makes their initial attempt to complete 500 miles at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“It's a dream come true to put your name on a trophy like this and go down in the record books,” Giebler said of the Rookie of the Year award.

“It's something I definitely set a goal for at the beginning of the month as soon as I got word I was going to do the race.”

Giebler is the hands down favorite to pick up the Rookie of the Year award which is voted on by the media. Last year's winner was Marco Andretti who turned in a surprising and impressive second place finish, unfortunately becoming the first driver to ever lose the 500 on the final straightaway when he was passed by Sam Hornish, Jr.

Neither of this year's contenders are expected to perform that well.

Giebler actually starts from the 33rd position with Duno 29th. Giebler ran a faster speed, but since he was a bump day qualifier, he starts behind some those that made the show on earlier days.

For both drivers, just making it to the end is the primary goal. “..make sure you make it to the last half of the race and get through the first part,” said Giebler.

Duno also noted, “We're starting in the back, so we have all the (bad) air from the others. We have to be careful from the first few laps until the moment that everyone starts to separate. It's going to be a very hard moment.”

Giebler is also concerned about the start, “It's like driving through a hurricane I hear. I think it's something that I'm trying to prepare for - I think keeping cool is definitely my approach.”

Both drivers crashed earlier in the month, with Duno backing in to the wall during practice on May 11th, and Giebler crashing during his first qualifying run on Saturday, May 19th. To some degree, both came back, but it has been Giebler showing the most speed and consistency, despite running the much maligned Panoz chassis.

Duno has struggled since her crash, and ran just 211mph laps during the final practice as Giebler turned in a best of 219mph. They both got in trouble from race control. Giebler for being too aggressive and not giving way to Danica Patrick when she clearly had the turn, and Duno for being too slow and using a line that made passing her difficult.

If Duno does not show more speed in the race, her day will be short as race officials have been quick to park slower cars in recent years.

Giebler summed up the overall feeling of being a rookie the best.

“Outside of the race, there is a so much stuff going on and you don't really get a break the whole week. I'm just trying to get through it and focus on the race... It's good. I'm definitely taking in these moments and trying to embrace them. You only get to do them once.”

ORS / CAPSIS International