Malukas, Penske Top Day 1 at Phoenix Open Test
Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
By Dennis Krause
David Malukas can’t help it - smile that is.
As Team Penske’s new driver in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, David Malukas is under a lot of pressure to perform, just as Will Power did for so many years in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.
So, how’s the 24-year-old from Chicago doing? Well, after day one of the Unser INDYCAR Open Test at Phoenix Raceway, Malukas topped the time sheets with at lap at 172.605mph.
While some drivers may not care where they rank on a test day, given that he’s the new guy on a powerhouse team, does it matter maybe just a little to Malukas?
“I think it's hard for test days, because you know, you're running through your own plans,” Malukas explained, “but I mean, of course, it feels good.
“We know that we have pace. The car is good, and we've kicked off our oval set with the team on a strong suit. So I feel confident, but is it what we were aiming for today? No, we just ran through our test plan, and we managed to get a time up on the board.
“Does it feel good? Yeah, I would say it feels good.”
It’s the first time INDYCAR has been back at the one-mile desert oval since 2018 and the first time Malukas has driven the track.
“I love it. Very, very nice,” Malukas commented. “From just the difference one and two, three and four, it's almost giving me similarities to Gateway in St. Louis, just having that difference between the two and trying to get the car setup how you like it in that short time frame on the back straight and getting the car swapped with the tools that we have in the car to get that good lap time.
“For me, so far very good day. Enjoyed it.”
In fact, it was his performance at WorldWide Technology Raceway (Gateway) in 2022, that got the attention of the INDYCAR paddock, with Malukas nearly passing current Penske teammate Josef Newgarden on the last lap of the race for the win, only to finish second. Two of Malukas’ three career podium finishes have come at the 1.25-mile oval outside of St. Louis.
“Yeah, engineers were saying that, Hey, if you like Gateway, this might be another one that you might like to add to your list. So far I think they were right. Like it a lot. It's nice.
“I mean, it's very, very fast,” Malukas continued. “When you are going through especially one and two, I mean, we are on the limit.
“Even myself, you know, the first few laps coming in, I thought, Oh, you know, I saw Josef put a time up. I'm, like, Man, I don't know how he's doing that. You actually keep pushing the car, and you are, like, Oh, this thing, it can take a lot of grip. It's very quick.
“It's definitely going to be already one of my favorite tracks just to drive in. Obviously racing is going to be a completely different beast to see how that handles. We didn't get any race running today, so I think that's going to be something more that we're looking into tomorrow and hopefully try and get an idea of is racing going to be good here. I truly do hope so it will be.”
Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
Now at Team Penske, Malukas has teammates that have had great success and loads of experience to draw upon, something he didn’t really have previously.
“I mean, look, it works very well,” Malukas said of the Penske way. “I think just between all of us, Scott (McLaughlin) and Josef, the amount of data that we're looking at and comparing. Our driving is also very similar with each other.
“So no matter what changes that Josef might do or I might do, we'll all be able to know that with each other that, oh, I can trust him. If he's made that change, I know that if it's good for him, it's going to be good for me.
“I think it just makes us continue that, with all the short amount of time that we have. Obviously we have two full test days, but maybe a little tire limited. If we can split our test items that we want to do and we can fully trust that Josef and Scott is going to do these different test items and we're going to know if it's going to be good or bad, it helps, because now instead of running through it with one car, you can run through it with three cars.
“That's the dream with any team that you want to accomplish. So far, I think we're actually in a very good window that, hey, all three drivers are in a similar window of driving style.”
About that smile? After a breakout performance with the small Dale Coyne Racing team in his rookie season in 2022, Malukas was snapped up by the Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team for 2024, only to injure his wrist while training. That kept him out of the cockpit at McLaren when the wrist didn’t heal as quickly as hoped after surgery and the team released him. A free agent, Malukas was picked up by Meyer Shank Racing for the rest of the ’24 season and then spent last year at A.J. Foyt Racing, a team with a technical alliance with Penske.
Now that he’s with Penske, Malukas admits he’s feeling great.
“This is the best I've felt in a very long time. The chemistry I have with the guys, the team, I'm just so happy.
“I get to race this beautiful car. It's fantastic. It's a dream for me. So every time I come in and out of the pits, I'm smiling. I got a big smile on my face, and I think on top of that, it adds to the performance.
“You see that with all the other guys. You know, everybody is on it. They have their own missions to make sure that, as a team, we can get good results. Just being in that environment, it's perfect.”
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.