Paddock Buzz: David Malukas Trying To Continue Foyt Resurgence

INDYCAR
David Malukas has never won an NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at World Wide Technology Raceway – he hasn't won a series race at any track, for that matter – but his rivals have known he was there in all three previous starts at this oval track.
Malukas finished second as a rookie in 2022, came home third in 2023 and was challenging for that elusive first series victory late in last year's race when he got squeezed in Turn 2 by Will Power. The contact sent Malukas' car spinning into the outside wall.
If there's a driver other than five-time winner Josef Newgarden to keep tabs on in Sunday's Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline, it's Malukas.
After a slow start to the season, Malukas and his AJ Foyt Racing crew are on a roll. They finished second in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, then qualified second in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. Malukas earned the fourth starting position for this race in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet. He again expects to race well.
'There was a lot of talk in the beginning of the season of what's going on, why we (weren't stronger),' the 24-year-old driver said. 'But we had a lot of changes with the team and new teammates coming in. I was brand new to the team, and a lot of new guys came onto the team. So, it takes time for these things to jell and start connecting and moving forward with the setup that we needed.
'I said from the start of the season – to the team and to everybody -- we were waiting for that Month of May, when we're with the guys every single day. We wake up, it's racing. You go to bed, it's racing. It's racing non-stop, and I think it showed.'
Malukas has excelled at this 1.25-mile oval almost since the moment he laid eyes on it. As an INDY NXT by Firestone rookie in 2019, he finished third, then returned the next year and swept the doubleheader, the opener from the pole.
As a rookie in this series, he found himself dueling to the finish with Newgarden and fellow Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin. It was so much fun that the crew heard him singing on the team's radio during a caution period. Imagine if he wins this time.
'I do think that the recent success … is giving us confidence, and I think the second half of the season is going to be a really good turnaround for AJ Foyt Racing,' he said.
Dixon Honored for Record-Breaking Start
There isn't much time for personal fanfare when a victory in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge is on the line, so Scott Dixon didn't bask in the glory of a record-breaking start May 25 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In that race, Dixon became the all-time leader in career starts, his 408th to break a tie with Mario Andretti, who had held the record since 1992. On Saturday, the driver of the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was honored for the accomplishment. He received the framed green flag signed from this year's '500' field.
Dixon, a two-time race winner at this track (2020, 2023), also holds the record for most consecutive series starts. This will be No. 347. Tony Kanaan is the only other driver with more than 300 straight series starts. Kanaan's streak ended at 318.
Dixon, who will make his 410th career start Sunday, and Andretti are the only drivers in history with at least 400 starts. Coincidentally, in this race Graham Rahal will become just the 11th driver with 300 career starts. This will be No. 310 for Will Power.
Rahal is on the verge of having 36 more starts than his father, three-time series champion Bobby Rahal, the 1986 Indy 500 winner. Rahal is second to Dixon among active drivers in consecutive starts. This will be his 247th, one shy of Marco Andretti's total that ranks third all-time.
Power will start this race from the pole position in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Dixon will start 11th, Rahal will start 22nd in the No. 15 One Care Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Twenty-seven cars will take the green flag shortly after 8 p.m. ET (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).
Shwartzman, Leichtle Paired Again
Indy pole winner Robert Shwartzman is making his short-oval debut this weekend, but he is doing so with an experienced engineer.
Eric Leichtle, a former Newgarden engineer who helped rookie Shwartzman at Indy, is back with the No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet. Shwartzman said he encouraged Leichtle to return with, 'Please, I beg you, come help me.'
Shwartzman will start 24th in this race, but he hopes to use experience gained in a recent test at the track. Since Indy, Shwartzman said the team has focused on improving its pit stops, which were a problem in the '500.'
Odds and Ends Pato O'Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) might not have a race victory at World Wide Technology Raceway in six career starts, but he has been outstanding in all six starts except last year, when a mechanical issue relegated him to a 26th-place finish. Before that, he had five consecutive top-four finishes, four of them leading to a step on the podium as a top-three finisher. He has finished second three times. He will start third in this race. This hasn't been one of the better tracks for Alex Palou, who scored his first oval win last month in the '500.' Since joining Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2021 season, his average finish at World Wide Technology Raceway is 10.0. Last year was his best finish: fourth. On Saturday, he qualified the No. 10 Ridgeline Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in the ninth spot. Led by Newgarden's five wins, Team Penske has captured a record nine series victories at World Wide Technology Raceway. Power earned one of them in 2018. McLaughlin followed Newgarden to the checkered flag last year. The team is still on the hunt for its first victory of the season. Newgarden, Power and Dixon are the only active drivers to have won NTT INDYCAR SERIES races at World Wide Technology Raceway, which, after a 14-year break, has hosted races continuously since 2017. Newgarden's last eight series wins have come on ovals. His most recent win was 10 months ago at World Wide Technology Raceway. He will start this race from the fifth position in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet and has led 599 laps at WWTR since the sport's return eight years ago, by far the most by any driver. This isn't good news for Power, who notched his record-extending 71st pole. The reason: No pole winner has won a series race at World Wide Technology Raceway since the return in 2017. And leading the most laps doesn't guarantee anything. The driver totaling the most laps led has failed to win six of the past eight series races, including Power, who led 117 laps last year. Newgarden led only 17 laps – the last 17 – in last year's race. The engine manufacturer battle has decidedly been in Honda's favor this year. Its drivers have won all seven races (five by Palou, two by Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood) and eight in a row over the past two seasons. Things could change Sunday as Chevrolet earned the top five starting positions. The fastest Honda belonged to Marcus Armstrong in the No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian. AJ Foyt Racing has promoted Mike Armbrester to technical director to oversee the engineering department. Adam Kolesar will become the race engineer on Santino Ferrucci's No. 14 Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet. Kolesar was the performance engineer on the car last year. Ferrucci has twice finished in the top 10 at this track, including a fourth-place finish in 2019 while driving for Dale Coyne Racing. With Malukas finishing second at Indy and Ferrucci second in Detroit, Foyt cars are trying to earn a top-three finish for the third consecutive race, something the team hasn't achieved since 1998 when Kenny Brack won races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Pikes Peak International Raceway and Atlanta Motor Speedway in succession. While Malukas will start fourth, Ferrucci will be in the 19th position. Hailie Deegan qualified 10th in the No. 38 HMD Motorsports car, the best performance of her rookie INDY NXT by Firestone season. Her previous best was 18th at the last event in Detroit. This is the first oval race of the season, and Deegan joined the INDYCAR development series this season after many years of oval racing in NASCAR and other stock car series. Iconic St. Louis radio personality Scott 'Riz' Rizzuto will be the grand marshal of Sunday's event.

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