For INDYCAR’s David Malukas It’s About Staying In The Present
Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment
By Dennis Krause
With all that’s going on around him - speculation about his future and a busy month of July that includes five races in just four weekends - staying in the present is a priority for David Malukas.
The 23-year-old driver of the No. 4 Clarience Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Racing in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES heads into this weekend’s Sukup INDYCAR Race Weekend doubleheader at Iowa Speedway optimistic of his chances on the series’ shortest oval coming off a runner-up finish at the Indianapolis 500 and leading a race-high 67 laps recently at World Wide Technology Raceway.
With rumors of a possible move to Team Penske - how does Malukas go about compartmentalizing the future from the present?
“Well, I guess that's just no matter the rumors or no rumors, I think everybody is trying to strive to always live in the present instead of stressing about the past and the future. I've always gone about that no matter what the situation may be.
“I've had a mental coach training me to always stay and live in the present, and as of right now, I'm with the AJ Foyt team and we're focused on our successes and what we've accomplished so far this season, and there's a lot more coming and a lot more results that's going to be here very soon.
“We're learning so much every single race that goes by, and even from Mid-Ohio, there's a lot that we've already learned from that one race.
“We're taking it a step at a time but we're always going on an upward trajectory.”
Malukas is part of a growing trend of more drivers using mental coaches as part of their pre-race preparations in addition to physical trainers. For Malukas, the value of a mental coach is just as important as a physical trainer.
“I mean, it's incredibly important,” he emphasized. “When you talk with drivers all the time, they're always talking about the physical and you see all these cuts of them in the gym working their arms, showing the triceps, biceps; yeah, we're getting strong.
“Obviously, that's always important, but I feel like the mental aspect hasn't really been spoken about too much. I feel like that's something that's starting to trend more recently.
Photo by Josh Hernandez/Penske Entertainment
“It's tough; you look at INDYCAR and motorsports in general, it's a sport where you're surrounded with fans and PR all the way until the very start of the race, really. You get in the car five minutes and now you need to be focused, when I think in other sports you have time to go in the locker room, have time to recollect.
“A lot of strategies that we do to switch into racing mode to get focused just because there's that very short period of time. I think it's very important. There's a lot that we can learn from it, and it's still kind of a new environment for me that I've gone into and I think the sport in general.”
According to Malukas, another important aspect of staying in the present is that of recovery - both physical and mental.
“Well, with a combination of my trainer and the mental coach, there's a lot really that we've been doing from a recovery aspect. Pretty much doing everything that we can when it comes to resting from a physical standpoint, making sure that we can be fully recovered in the next few days, and hydration. It's not that you just drink water before the race and some electrolytes and you'll be good to go. A lot of your electrolytes and body absorption starts a few days even earlier, so doing a lot when it comes to that side of things.
“And from a mental aspect, trying to be able to not think about the previous race that much. It's already hard that, let's say you've had a bad race, bad races tend to stick with you a little bit harder. It's always hard to move on from that perspective.
“So I think that's the big challenge, within the next few days, between all these races, if we have a bad one, if a mishap happens, to make sure we can do a full reset, don't think about the past, don't let the past race influence this race coming up, make sure we can be fully recharged, reset and go out there and give our 110 percent performance for the next one.”
Photo by Karl Zemlin/Penske Entertainment
Just how challenging is that given Sunday’s 275-lap race comes less than 20-hours of the checkered flag of Saturday’s 275-lapper this weekend at Iowa Speedway - as well as the Toronto and Laguna Seca races yet to come in the month of July?
“Good question. It's very easy to kind of get overrun with thoughts. Just even going off of Mid-Ohio, I left the shop trying to figure out strategies of what we can do when it comes to the post event at Mid-Ohio, how things went, and looking forward to Laguna. But now we kind of need to put that on hold, switch up and get ready for Iowa because that's coming up here in the next few days.
“There's a lot of different aspects that we need to figure out from the mental aspect and from the mental side and even physical. I feel like with my trainer there's been more talks of how to recover than how to train this next month, especially with all the heat.
“It's a new perspective on things, and we're trying to make sure we can capitalize because I think the better you can capitalize on the off days you're going to be better on the days when you're racing.
“I think the biggest shout-out goes out to the crew members of all teams,” Malukas continued. “Those guys are -- we still get to be a little bit spoiled and get to just relax, recover, say we're athletes and go into the sauna, cold plunge, and okay, yeah, but this is my recovery. Those guys, they worked their butts off all weekend, and then they go to the shop, flip the car around nonstop, have a little bit of food here and there, and jump back to the next race.
“Those guys are nonstop on it. Yeah, it's going to be a tough month for us and the team.”
One thing Malukas has learned in his four years in the series is patience. If he could go back and tell his 2022 rookie self anything, it would be to be patient.
“When you're a young driver, you want things to come quickly, get results no matter what it may be, and just seeing how these past two seasons have come out, I feel like I've matured 40 years in one, really. It's been a big one for me.
“I feel like I'm at a much better state when it comes to driving as I was when back in 2022, a lot less hotheaded and more kind of calculated when it comes to things I want to do. I'm already starting to build an understanding of how races are going to go, depending on the yellows and what situations are happening.
“But yeah, if there's one word, I'd say that to have some patience. That's definitely very key for my younger self.”
If Malukas keeps maturing at that rate, he jokes he’ll be Yoda in another four years.
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.