Ahead of his second race in the iconic No. 12 Verizon Penske IndyCar, David Malukas finally captured his first pole position in IndyCar. Malukas will start next to his new teammate, two-time IndyCar champion and Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden, in the Good Racher 250 at Phoenix Raceway Saturday afternoon.
The Penske rookie is ready for the challenge and for the unique pressure that comes with racing for Roger Penske.
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At 24 years old, the son of Lithuanian immigrants has found himself looking to settle after an early career stint as a journeyman, where he proved enough to be given one of the most sought-after seats in racing, and he’s ready for it. In a conversation with Road & Track, Malukas shared that his time moving from team to team has shaped the driver he is today. Each of these experiences added to the driver who ultimately put Penske on pole for the first oval race of the season.
Malukas path to Team Penske took him all over the IndyCar paddock, racing for Dale Coyne, being signed by Arrow McLaren but not completing a single race before being fired, then racing for Meyer Shank, and most recently for AJ Foyt Racing before being announced as Will Power’s replacement for the No. 12 Verizon Dallara/ Chevrolet.
“From all these different teams that I’ve had and different experiences from IndyCar, if it’s from Honda, if that be from Andretti, and all these things, I think I can bring a perspective of how is Team Penske compared to to all these other cars,” Malukas told R&T, “I feel like it’s a lot of information and data that I have stored in there.”
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Malukas joins a Team Penske IndyCar team that has been running as a well-oiled team, with a driver lineup unchanged since Scott McLaughlin’s rookie season in 2021. This year, McLaughlin hits five seasons with Penske as Josef Newgarden hits a decade, driving for the Captain since Penske celebrated its 50th anniversary.
“From my side, it’s trying to control the youth in me, right? Not getting too anxious or making these aggressive, exciting moves, keeping things under control so we can have that consistency. I feel like having that balance in the team between me, Josef, and Scott, I think it’s going to be working really well. And I think so far after St. Pete, the way things are meshing and connecting, I think it’s strong, and I think we’re going to carry that on for the rest of 2026.”
The driver he’s replacing, Will Power, had been with the team since 2009, when Malukas was eight years old. Malukas remembers spending his formative years being yelled at for riding his scooter inside while watching a brazen and bold Australian driver race to two championships and an Indy 500 win in the car he now gets the chance to pilot.
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“This is who I grew up watching on TV,” Malukas said of Power. “This is the person who got me IndyCar. I mean, the name itself, Will Power, right? I mean, it’s incredible. I can’t believe it.”
For Malukas, racing against Power in his first IndyCar weekend was one of his first ‘I’ve made it moments’, solidifying that his career was real.
“For me, I remember actually doing an interview way back when I first did my first IndyCar race, saying ‘I did my first practice session at St. Pete, and Will Power was passing on the outside’, and I just couldn’t believe it, I’m actually racing side by side with Will Power.
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In that race, Power finished on the podium in third while the rookie’s debut ended prematurely following a crash in turn four on lap 23.
“Fast forward a few more years, and dreams are still coming true. I get to say that now I can create my own legacy in the historic Verizon Chevrolet No. 12. I mean, so many dreams are coming true, but for me, with everything coming together, it’s a lot of that hard work starts now. I’ve never tried so hard in my life to become the best driver I can because I want my name to be written across this team.
“I’ve worked hard to get here, and now it’s really hard work to make sure that we can stay here and not just stay here, but to be remembered.”
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