Another strong showing on the ovals for David Malukas. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
FORT WORTH, Texas – A year ago, David Malukas made his presence known on ovals with a podium effort in Gateway.
On Sunday afternoon, David Malukas went toe-to-toe with INDYCAR’s elite once again at the ever-daring Texas Motor Speedway. Although he finished one spot shy of another oval podium, Malukas had one phrase to say immediately after Sunday’s PPG 375.
“My new word for this week is going to be ‘beautiful chaos’,” said Malukas. “I loved it and was having a blast.”
Malukas certainly proved he was indeed having fun as his No. 18 HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing Honda was in the mix for the top spot. The young racer tried playing the role of spoiler on an afternoon that was dominated by Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden.
With 12 laps to go, Malukas rose to the occasion as it was a mad dash to the finish as he inserted himself in the mix for a chance of scoring his maiden NTT IndyCar Series win. On a venue that Dale Coyne Racing saw one of its brightest moments in their 30-plus year career in the sport, Malukas showcased that Gateway was no fluke.
However, as the laps wind down, the race win battle dwindled down to Newgarden and O’Ward as Malukas had to frantically fend off Romain Grosjean for fourth. With two laps remaining, Grosjean tried making a move on the inside, but lost control of his No. 28 DHL Honda, crashing out of the race.
Grosjean’s accident ended a maddening race that might have saved the venue despite the race’s finish being under caution. Newgarden was victorious while Malukas finished in the top-five to cap off a strong race.
“We were going inside, outside with the big three (Newgarden, O’Ward and Alex Palou). All these big names and little Dave. I was having a blast and it was so much fun,” said Malukas. “Obviously, really great racing and very aggressive. But everyone gave just enough space to make sure we all go through safely and put on a good show.”
A superb result was in jeopardy during the second half of the race when a botched call in the pits could have put Malukas out of contention. The botch in question was not coming to pit road when he needed to, leaving him off sync with the front runners.
Fortunately for the entire No. 18 organization, cautions breed cautions kept him in the hunt. Most notably, at the expense of Malukas’ teammate Sting Ray Robb, who had a heavy shunt into the inside wall on the backstretch on Lap 210.
“We had a few issues with the car halfway through and we survived that stint,” said Malukas. “Thankfully, my teammate is okay but that yellow definitely saved us because our car was not in the greatest shape. I ended up losing a couple of my tools inside my car, but we managed to come in and we fixed it.”
After two rounds, Malukas improved from 10th to sixth in the championship trail going into the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, Apr. 16. Malukas will look to improve on his 21st place finish in Southern California as he was one of eight retirees last year.
