Malukas: Indy 500 finish “bittersweet” after “toughest year of my life”

Credit: Aaron Skillman

This time one year ago, David Malukas was no longer an IndyCar driver.

Then 22 years old, the Chicago native should have been contesting his third Indianapolis 500 and first with one of IndyCar’s ’big four’ teams after signing for Arrow McLaren. But a matter of weeks earlier, without having raced for the team, ties were cut.

As a result of a pre-season left wrist dislocation and subsequent surgery, Malukas was sidelined for the opening races of 2024, which gave grounds for his contract with Arrow McLaren to be terminated. He was left with distinct doubt as to what his IndyCar or racing future would hold.

’Social media intern’ may have been the most applicable job title for Malukas during the Month of May last year. Instead of being on track, he was creating content for IndyCar’s social channels and was agonisingly forced to watch the race as a fan.

“This past year that I’ve had has been the toughest year of my life really,” Malukas said. “It was a lot of different emotions, rollercoasters. And if I look back one year ago, I wasn’t even in IndyCar anymore. I didn’t have a left hand and I was up in the media centre, just being a fan.”

But in the face of adversity, Malukas rebounded and showcased incredible resilience. 

By Round 8 in Laguna Seca last year, an opportunity arose for Malukas to continue his racing career. His recovery had taken longer than expected but he seized a vacancy with Meyer Shank Racing for the remainder of the season.

Malukas impressed to the extent he was snapped up by AJ Foyt Racing - linked with Team Penske through a technical alliance - for the 2025 season. And one year on from being mainly situated in the media centre at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he was back in the saddle and with a car to compete.

Credit: Dominic Loyer

Malukas, a two-time podium-sitter with Dale Coyne Racing, had finished a best of 16th as a rookie in his two previous Indy 500 attempts. Now, after only his third attempt, he can call himself a runner-up at the Speedway.

Having qualified seventh, Malukas raced up front throughout the 200 laps. He came home third on the road, behind Álex Palou and Marcus Ericsson, but a post-race penalty for Ericsson has promoted Malukas to a joint-career-best second-place result.

“One year [after being dropped by Arrow McLaren], that I’m back in the 500, and not just back but fighting for the win, is incredible to say,” Malukas said. “It’s been an insane year. It’s always going to be a year of maturity for me. 

“Although it was a year, I feel like I’ve aged 10. Everything happens for a reason and I’m taking all this knowledge and everything I’ve learned in the past year and all the hardships and going to put it into more success in the future.”

There is obvious pride at the rebound and, at still only 23 years old, being in the fight for Indy 500 victory. But understandably, there were tears on the cool-down lap as Malukas came to terms with having so marginally missed out on etching his name into history.

“Bittersweet ending but what a good race,” he said. “All those yellow flags, seeing our position of the car and how good we were… we had it at the end there. Definitely picturing it.

“We gave it our all. I think it was about 15 to go and we turned it up and I was just hanging on for dear life trying to get something out of it. Those two lapped cars came in and ruined the fun for us and chose this winner. That’s how this track goes.”

Credit: Paul Hurley

Malukas felt the race ultimately slipped away after the final pit stop, when Palou pounced with a decisive pass into Turn 3 with Malukas held up behind backmarkers. But he was full of credit for the flawless job his Foyt team did throughout the month.

He is having none of the notion that Foyt’s technical alliance with Penske was a major player in this performance.

“I don’t think it’s fair,” Malukas said. “It’s an AJ Foyt car. Those are the guys that are working on it. It’s the AJ Foyt team. So all the credit goes to AJ Foyt. That’s what I’m driving. That’s what’s on my suit.

“The guys did an incredible job from start to finish. And that’s not speaking about the race, it’s speaking about this month. As soon as we unloaded the car, we’ve put the car in the right direction and never took a blindside. 

“Our path was clear and it led to getting this P3 finish. That comes down to them. It was from the engineers and mechanics - just an incredible job.”

It had been a challenging start to Malukas’ time for Foyt to this point, only once finishing inside the top 15 in the first five rounds. But courtesy of his Indy 500 result, he has risen from 19th to 10th in the standings.

The Month of May has provided a launchpad for the team, achieving a double-top-five result - Santino Ferrucci maintaining a 100 percent record of top-10 finishes at Indy - for Foyt’s first two top 10s of 2025. It was a needed lift.

“If I look at it from a championship standpoint and the season as a whole, we got a little bit of a rough start,” Malukas said. “So this has been a very good month for us to boost morale and lead us for the rest of the season.”