About half a car length, that was how much David Malukas was shy of winning his first Indy 500, or IndyCar race for that matter, but Felix Rosenqvist’s epic pass demoted him to runner-up. Again.
And where last year he couldn’t do much more than follow eventual winner Álex Palou, this time he was beaten when leading the race coming out of the last turn. However, a perfectly executed final lap by Rosenqvist meant he is now the losing subject in what is the closest finish in Indy 500 history.
“Yeah, just disappointment,” Malukas sums up his feelings. “I just don’t know what else we could have done. We were driving 150 percent that whole race. The guys did a fantastic job getting the car where it needed to be. We had the fastest car out there that whole race. It was ours to win, and I knew that.
“I’ve never pushed that hard in my whole life. Just to finish, like — I can’t believe it. This whole season, even before, just keep getting a lot of seconds, but we just can’t get — now it’s like — I don’t know how much closer you can get to getting it.
“So yeah. Now we’re even P2 in the championship. It’s great, so many seconds.”
Malukas grateful for Roger Penske’s faith in him
Coming off a career-best 11th place in the IndyCar championship, including that runner-up finish in the Indy 500, Malukas was promoted to the #12 Penske vacated by Will Power. A statement of intent by Roger Penske, who recognises the talent displayed by Malukas. And the young Lithuanian-American was appreciative of The Captain’s faith in im.
“But on a high note, this team, everybody from Verizon and the whole crew and even outside the 12 crew, but the 2 car, the 3 car, everybody — I’ve been through many different teams, although I’m still young, 2024, from the wrist injury, been to so many different teams, and nobody is like Team Penske.
“Everybody here is just so closely connected and truly feels like family. Obviously coming from all of that, Roger was one of the first guys to come to me and tell me that he believes in me and told me to keep on pushing.
“Because of him, I can sit here and cry that I’m going for a P2 position. I think that’s why it’s really emotional for me because I wanted to get a win for this team and just wanted to be written across those history books.
“Everything happens for a reason. I think there’s a reasoning to this. We’re going to just use it as more motivation and just keep pushing forward, and someday maybe it’ll happen.”
Malukas doesn’t blame himself
Having had an opportunity to look back at the final move, Malukas feels there is nothing he could have done to prevent Rosenqvist from getting the run he had.
“I mean, he just had a really good run,” Malukas explained. “There’s nothing else I could have done. I’m trying to think back, maybe something different with deployment here or there —
“There’s just no way. In the car it looked a lot closer, which it was really, really close, but from the run I didn’t know he had that big of a run.
“Watching the replay and seeing the run that he had, it actually made me feel better because I was like, to be honest, I don’t think there’s anything I could have done. Maybe could have shortened it by a couple thousandths. I think that was the IMS gods telling me that it’s not my time.”
It also softens the blow, Malukas admits, as there isn’t really something he could have done better all day.
“I mean, the pain is still there,” he continued. “It makes it feel a little bit better. Watching it, he just had such a big run. There’s definitely nothing we could have — yeah, there’s just nothing. With the positioning, the timing of all of it, yeah, there’s nothing we could have done.
“We did everything we could, and it’s just a big thank you to this team. They gave me the best car out there.”
Indy 500 runner-up hardship will only improve Malukas’ mental fortitude
Despite the painfull loss, Malukas was out of the car relatively quickly. A deliberate choice by the Penske driver who didn’t want to keep overthinking with his helmet on.
“Well, I think it’s just because I really started to beat myself up in that car so I told myself I need to get out of here before I just keep on overthinking and making things so much worse.
“Yeah, just had to get out, and it was a good decision to do, get out and just see everybody and kind of just let the emotions out because in the car it was not good thoughts.”
When asked to elaborate on his attitude that everything happens for a reason, Malukas explained that hardships in life and in sports build character and provide him with the motivation to keep aiming higher.
“I think it’s through hardships [that I developed this attitude]. Everybody here in this room has hardships. It’s the ones you remember. Obviously really, really good times you remember.
“But if I think back to when I was a kid, elementary school, middle school, I remember all the bad things I did. So you don’t repeat them and you learn from them and you make yourself better, it makes you who you are.”
Injury and Arrow McLaren miss only fueled Malukas’ fire
In racing, one of his biggest setbacks came when a mountainbike accident caused a wrist injury. An injury that would eventually make him miss an opportunity at Arrow McLaren. But in the end, the incident motivated him even more.
“That [attitude] was something I truly kind of enveloped as to be who I am in 2024 coming from the wrist injury. That was a big hardship for me, trying to overcome that and come back into the field and go back into performing with one and a half hands.
“Having all these hardships builds character,” Malukas concluded. “And for me it just gives me more drive, gives me more motivation, more obsession to go out there and have my dreams come true, right? We’re getting so close. I will not be able to die at rest until we can go get a win.”
