Malukas On Meyer Shank: ‘They Really Saved My Career’

David Malukas (Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment photo)

LEBANON, Tenn. – Sunday’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix presented by Gainbridge at Nashville Superspeedway marked both the end of one chapter and the beginning of another for David Malukas.

The 22-year-old Chicago native, who emerged in the second half of the NTT IndyCar Series season as one of the sport’s most exciting young talents, capped the year with a ninth-place finish in his final drive with Meyer Shank Racing.

It marked a positive end to a seven-month stretch where the adjective “tumultuous” would be the ultimate understatement.

Malukas went into the year expecting to capitalize on the biggest opportunity of his career to that point, after being signed by Arrow McLaren to drive one of the team’s three entries on the IndyCar grid.

However, a broken wrist sustained on Feb. 11 during a preseason mountain biking accident derailed that plan, with Malukas forced to the sidelines for the opening stint of the calendar and later released by McLaren in late April.

But just when it seemed his journey in IndyCar might be over, a call from MSR co-owner Michael Shank breathed new life into Malukas’ sails.

He stepped into the team’s No. 66 Honda for the remainder of the season, starting with the eighth of 17 points races at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.

“I think they really saved my career,” said Malukas of the Meyer Shank organization following Sunday’s season-ending NTT IndyCar Series race at Nashville’s 1.333-mile concrete oval.

During his time with MSR, Malukas seemed to finally come into his own behind the wheel of an Indy car.

Though he only earned two top-10 finishes – a season best of sixth on the streets of Toronto and his aforementioned ninth at Nashville – he showed speed, led laps, consistently qualified up front, and gained respect as be began to race more regularly among the frontrunners.

David Malukas in action at Nashville Superspeedway. (Chris Jones/Penske Entertainment photo)

Five of his 10 races saw him among the Firestone Fast Six in qualifying, including the Nashville finale, where he rolled off fifth, was in the top five for nearly half the race, and was out front late on a strategy call that nearly paid off.

After pitting at lap 139, Malukas stayed on track at the behest of strategist George Klotz, with the duo hoping a late caution flag would wave and allow them to stretch their fuel 68 laps to the finish.

Malukas cycled to the lead with 13 laps left after polesitter Kyle Kirkwood bailed on a similar strategy, but the yellow he needed never materialized, and he was forced to pit lane for a splash of fuel with five to go.

It ended the Chicagoan’s quest for an unlikely victory, but the ninth-place finish he held on to was enough to keep the No. 66 entry in the Leader’s Circle program as one of the top 22 cars in the series at the end of 2024, earning MSR a $1.2 million bonus by virtue of that placing.

That was the good news, but it didn’t completely ease the sting for Malukas of having a potential first Indy car victory squarely in his sights.

“That one kind of hurt,” he admitted. “We ended up just making the wrong call on strategy; we were betting on a yellow. If it worked out, we probably would have won it, but that’s just how the game goes sometimes and that’s how we played it.

“Really unfortunate [finish on paper], but at the end of the day, the team got what we wanted and secured the leader circle points with a P9 to end the season. Even though the result wasn’t what we wanted, our race was amazing,” he added. “The guys did an awesome job, gave us amazing [pit] stops, and we were jumping people all because of them. Our car was a rocket; we were so fast every restart and hitting the numbers we needed to hit, so it made this a really good way to end the season.

“This year has been a roller coaster, both for me personally and for this team, but we ended on a high note.”

Malukas hopes the momentum he ended the season on will carry with him into his next journey, as the young standout moves over to AJ Foyt Racing for 2025 in a multi-year agreement.

While he has already started looking toward the future, however, Malukas didn’t want to discount anything that co-team owners Shank and Jim Meyer did for him throughout his time at MSR.

“It’s been an incredible journey. It’s been a season for me,” Malukas admitted. “We’ve had highs and lows … but the Meyer Shank family brought me in, and I can’t be more grateful for that. They took a risk on me. They didn't know where my hand was at [in the healing process]. I didn’t [even] know where it was at. But we ended up having a really good time and building a relationship, and I’ll never forget that.”

“They’re always going to have a part of my heart,” added Malukas of the entire MSR team. “They’re going to be like family to me. I think out of all the teams that I’ve gone to, they treated me the best of any of them. I’m almost going to shed a tear now that it’s over!

“It’s a really good group of people. I’m very thankful to have been a part of the opportunity and I’m going to miss working with them, for sure.”

That said, with Nashville complete the focus turns to next year for Malukas, and his debut with AJ Foyt Racing on March 2, 2025, on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.

“Next year with AJ and the Foyt family will be a new chapter in my IndyCar career, and just as happy as I am to finish strong with MSR, I’m eagerly looking ahead to that next challenge.”