“We keep getting close,” Malukas continues his search for a first IndyCar win after a second place at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis
- Evan Roberts
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
The Grand Prix of Indianapolis was a mixed bag for David Malukas. On one hand, he picked up his second podium of the season and matched his career best finish of second. On the other hand, it was a race where he really could’ve won.
Malukas led the most laps of any driver throughout the race with 27, yet it was his final stint that let him down. With only 18 laps to go, Christian Lundgaard threw his Arrow McLaren around the outside of Turn 3.
“Yeah, I mean, it was a proper move. It was very good…" said Malukas.
“It was also that last stint we were struggling with pace. Not too sure what went wrong. We'll go back and study it and see what we can find.”
What it meant for the Chicago native is that another race weekend has passed, and another chance to rid himself of the “lil dave” nickname he has grown to detest.
“We keep getting close. Look, that race was honestly -- it was very fortunate. We were having so much luck.”
The luck Malukas speaks of is what took him to the lead of the race after a brilliantly timed caution caught out championship leader Álex Palou and Kyle Kirkwood.
It was not only the caution he had to thank; throughout the entire weekend, he also spoke about being on the back foot with car setup and a general lack of pace. Work by his team overnight on Friday allowed Malukas to enter qualifying with a much-improved feeling in his Team Penske machine.
“I'm spoiled. I get to go to bed and get some nice food, get a good rest, and these guys, they didn't sleep all night. They were studying -- shout out Fernando, Mustafa, James, these guys, they're working so hard, working their butts off, and they came back to me in the morning with a whole new philosophy on the car. I truly believe that's what got us into that Fast Six. A big shout-out for this team.”
Despite not claiming his first victory, he has set himself up nicely to carry this momentum into the remainder of May and the Indianapolis 500, a race that he has always excelled in.
“I came in thinking this was going to be our hardest race of the whole season, and it ended up being our best result yet, which was just fantastic. It's really, really cool. It's really good momentum going into the 500, and yeah, I'm very, very happy.”
