David Malukas continues to close in on his maiden victory in the IndyCar Series after an impressive runner-up finish at the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Starting from fifth place, the 24-year-old Chicago native surged to the front thanks to a mix of strategic pit stops, leading a race-high 27 of 85 laps. His chance at the win slipped away when Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard executed a daring pass on the outside of Turn 2, completing the move at the exit of Turn 4 on Lap 68.
Malukas ultimately crossed the finish line 4.613 seconds behind Lundgaard. This result marks his second podium of the season for Team Penske and his best finish in six races so far.
“We keep getting close,” Malukas said. “Look, that race was honestly very fortunate. We had so much luck.”
Malukas acknowledged the role of fortune, pointing to the opening-lap incident in Turn 1 where Felix Rosenqvist accidentally made contact with front-row starter Pato O’Ward, taking out several potential contenders. He also noted that Kyle Kirkwood’s pit stop issues worked in his favor, and lap traffic eventually cleared to give him clean air.
“Then at the end, Lundgaard was just so fast. I was trying everything I could sideways pretty much 50% of those laps. He was still pulling away,” Malukas added.
The result exceeded Malukas’s expectations, especially after he had finished no better than 12th in previous races and had two finishes outside the top 20.
“We came into this weekend thinking it would be our hardest race of the whole season, and it ended up being our best result yet—fantastic,” he said.
The timing is especially good with the Indianapolis 500 up next. Malukas finished second in that race last year while driving for AJ Foyt Racing.
“It’s really good momentum going into the 500,” he said. “I’m very, very happy.”
Reflecting on his battle with Lundgaard—a former teammate from his karting days in Italy—Malukas praised the move as fair and proper, though he admitted his car lost pace in the final stint.
“We’ll go back and study it to see what we can find,” he said.
