David Malukas blamed a Chevrolet engine issue for costing him his maiden IndyCar victory at The Milwaukee Mile after a hesitation on a late restart handed the win to Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward.
Driving the #12 Team Penske Chevrolet, the 24-year-old Chicago native started third in the resumed Race 1 following a fourth-place finish in Race 2. An off-strategy pit call put Malukas into the lead on lap 120, and he went on to lead 93 laps. However, on a restart with 19 laps remaining, Malukas’ car hesitated, allowing O’Ward to dive underneath him into Turn 1 and drive off to secure the victory.
Malukas finished second, 1.7535 seconds behind.
The result marked Malukas’s fourth second-place finish of the season and the sixth of his career, putting him in a tie with multiple drivers – including Romain Grosjean – for the second-most runner-up finishes without a win. Victor Meira holds the record with eight. Malukas sits fifth in the championship standings heading into the season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, trailing Christian Lundgaard by 23 points for second place.
Chevrolet-powered cars nevertheless swept the top seven positions in Race 1 and the top four in Race 2.
Malukas blamed Chevrolet when speaking to IndyCar Radio after the race.
“Yeah, I mean, Race 1, Race 2, Chevy just, they let us down,” Malukas told IndyCar Radio’s Michael Young. “I mean, plenum events [overboost], every time I leave pit lane, I gotta be lifting, first gear, second gear. It’s ridiculous. And I mean, the team did such a good job. That car was unreal. I mean, it was already so good in Race 1 (2), and then they worked on it and got it to where it needed to be for this race. We were so fast, faster than the rest. And yeah, just got let down on that restart.”
When asked if the hesitation was a rev limiter issue, Malukas offered a final, brief assessment.“Yeah. Look, I don’t want to go into details,” he said. “Yeah, we just got let down today. We should have won that. And yeah, I don’t know.
“We’re just cursed.”
