Duno, Herb return.

Milka Duno and Jon Herb will make their debut Indycar appearances at the Michigan International Speedway at the Firestone Indy 400 this weekend, having confirmed their return to the series.

Duno, who last raced at Richmond a month ago, will test a new Dallara chassis on the two-mile oval before joining the 4 August practice groups. Tomas Enge will again assist the rookie in setting up the SAMAX car for the sweeping turns and 18-degree banking.

"I am so excited coming to Michigan with a new car, and now to have the use of a back-up car," Duno said, "Most teams have the winter months to prepare. Unfortunately, we didn't have this luxury and we have been a little on the back foot with testing and preparation of a second car. I knew, with our late entry, that this year was going to be a challenge and I am grateful to CITGO and the team for all their hard work to get to this point."

Herb, who has 15 starts in the IndyCar Series spread over several years, last competed at Texas Motor Speedway in June, and will return in the #19 Aercon/Dad's Root Beer Special having skipped the recent road course rounds.

"From my perspective, I've been to Michigan on a couple of occasions with the ARCA stock car series and really enjoyed the track," he said, "The wide-open corners suited my style; I can really drive it in there. I've always wanted to go back with the IndyCar Series, but hadn't had the opportunity until this year."

The Chicago native is seeking a decent result to help expand his sponsorship base in an effort to race in the season finale at Chicagoland Speedway next month.

"Obviously, we'd like to be going to more events," Herb admitted, ""We've been picking and choosing. That's not necessarily a bad thing if you do it well, but we haven't had the success I'd like to have had at Indy or Texas, so, hopefully, Michigan will be a turning point as far as getting some results.

"It's capitalising on the momentum we have putting things together. We've shown that we can compete here, but we have to capitalise on it and realise the fruits of our efforts. I'm a Chicago native and I'd like to run that race. We're working on it."