Fireside Chat with Team Penske’s newest driver, David Malukas

Bruce Martin:
IndyCar fans, it's time to start your engines. Welcome to Pit Pass Indy, a production of Evergreen Podcast. I'm your host, Bruce Martin, a journalist who regularly covers the NTT IndyCar Series. Our goal at Pit Pass Indy is to give racing fans an insider's view of the exciting world of the NTT IndyCar Series in a fast-paced podcast featuring interviews with the biggest names in the sport. I bring nearly 40 years of experience covering IndyCar and NASCAR, working for such media brands as NBCSports.com, SI.com, ESPN SportsTicker, Sports Illustrated, Auto Week, and Speed Sport. So let's drop the green flag on this episode of Pit Pass Indy. Welcome to Pit Pass Indy as we continue our sixth season of giving IndyCar fans an inside look at the most exciting form of racing on the planet, the NTT IndyCar Series. And wherever you are, hopefully you are staying warm and safe while recovering from another massive winter storm that swept through much of the United States for the second straight weekend. Rather than shovel snow and deal with the icy conditions, throw another log onto the fireplace and listen to this fireside chat with Team Penske's newest driver, David Maloukis, on this edition of Pit Pass Indy. In last week's episode, we had a brief interview with Maloukis from racing day at the Detroit Auto Show. Today, we have a much longer exclusive interview with Maloukis at the Team Penske shop in Mooresville, North Carolina. This interview was conducted a few weeks ago, and with the cold and snow, let's just call this a fireside chat with Team Penske's David Maloukis as he joins me for this exclusive interview on Pit Pass Indy. It might be cold and windy during the IndyCar off season, but today we've got a driver who plans to bring the heat in 2026. It's David Maloukis, the new driver at Team Penske. He's going to be the driver of the number 12 Chevrolet here at Team Penske. David, first of all, welcome to the team. And I'm sure this is a aspirational thing that every driver that gets involved in IndyCar always dreams of to drive for Team Penske.

David Malukas: That is very true. First of all, I have to say how smooth that intro was. You're always good with those smooth intros to start these interviews. But no, I mean, this is a dream come true. I came here, been here one time before, you know, to do a special test that I know that they did for any next drivers when they were first moving up to IndyCar. And that was my first test with Team Penske, actually, when I was very young. But I kind of walked through this facility and looking at all the pictures and stuff, and I said, man, this is going to be the the dream I'm gonna work really hard and who knows maybe one day we can be here and now we fast forward a few more years of a lot of I think chaos from what's been my 2024 and to look forward and now I came back in here and it's all a lot of the same guys from when I did that test and now I come in here I'm looking at all these same posters and things I said man I'm a little bit closer now.

Bruce Martin: Speaking of doing the test, you've also done a test so far this year in the Team Penske car. How has that gone? What was it like to jump into that ride? You've been on some teams that may not have all the budget and resources of a Team Penske, but they really put out an effort and produced, but now you're really on one of the premier teams in all of racing.

David Malukas: Yeah, no, it was exciting, man, I'm not gonna lie. Although it's an IndyCar, it's all the same, and we're still fresh off the end of the season when it's a Gateway. We did the test, and I got in it, man, I was nervous, I was excited, I was feeling everything. Actually, they didn't post it, but my first start, I stalled it. Which was pretty funny. I was surprised they didn't put it. I was like, yeah, you guys should put that in there. It's funny. But no, it was, it was a fantastic test. We were wicked fast, learned a lot of good stuff. And I mean, just connecting with the guys for the first time and realistically, you know, driving a Penske car as a Penske driver in the number 12 car lot. It was, it was kind of just a moment of like, I can't believe this is happening throughout the whole day.

Bruce Martin: You've always been considered one of the young up-and-coming drivers in IndyCar. Some people may think this is quite a leap, considering that you haven't won an IndyCar race yet. So, what do you believe is your best asset to bring to a team like Team Penske to prove that you belong here?

David Malukas: Well, it's like you said, you know, I'm definitely from, I still think I could take myself as the youthful take coming up with IndyCar right now. We've got some pretty young drivers coming in, but I'm still, you know, I'm still Gen Z. I can still bring that comedic aspect as well. But, no, I mean, coming in, like you said, you know, it's still, you know, I made even a saying a long time ago, I'm Little Dave, and when I get my first win, I'll be Big Dave, and now I'm already growing facial hair, and I still can't say I'm Big Dave yet. It's like a long time coming, but it also goes to show, I mean, when you talk with a lot of the veterans, they themselves say that IndyCar right now, it's the best it's ever been, the talent's incredible, so it's very tough to even get a win, but we've been nearing closer and closer. This 2025 season's been my best season yet, and obviously second place at the Indy 500. There's a lot to come. With Team Penske, they're gonna give me all the resources, all the capabilities to show who I am and to go out there and give my 110%.

Bruce Martin: In a lot of ways, I don't want to discount the previous teams that you've raced on. You had some success with them, didn't have wins, but yet there was moments where you were a factor, you were in the fight for the victory. Looking at a team like Team Penske, is it almost like, say it because I'm a Chicago White Sox fan, but going from the White Sox to the L.A. Dodgers, they win the World Series. Is it a little bit like that?

David Malukas: I mean, Team Penske, you know, they, well, everybody knows it's the top of the top. I mean, these guys, they don't mess around. They know what it takes to be competitive and to go and go for victory. So being a part of it and walking through here, I mean, yeah, I can see that, at least from my ambitions of what I want to complete and accomplish in my life and to be written, you know, in history and through IndyCar, all the resources, all the capabilities, all the possibilities, it can happen through Team Penske.

Bruce Martin: But can that also be intimidating?

David Malukas: Yeah, of course. I mean, you know, there's a saying that I always cherish because I think it helped calm me in times is, you know, when somebody's nervous, oh, you're nervous, you know, try not to be nervous and you need to focus, you need to be serious. One person came up to me and told me, they said, if you're nervous, it means that you care. And that is the best saying that ever kind of resided with me. I'm nervous. Of course, somebody's nervous. You have to be nervous. It's normal. It's human. When you're nervous, you care about what's going to happen. You care about the results. So to come through here and be a little bit intimidated, to be a little bit nervous, I think that's part of being human. That's what we want. I care. I care about performances. I care about my future, my results. So I think if I wasn't nervous, that would be a bit of a problem.

Bruce Martin: But did you feel a little uncomfortable last year in the fact that the whole drama that was playing out A lot of people had you pegged to come here probably in April or maybe even before the season started when everybody realized that Will Power's contract was going to be up at the end of the year. But to go through that while also trying to focus on driving races, race after race after race, A lot of people can find that to be a little bit of a distraction. How did you deal with it?

David Malukas: Yeah, I don't know. A lot of that stuff, I think, just throughout the few years I've already been in any car, I've done a pretty good job of kind of pushing that to the side. When people hear rumors and rumors start to swirl, I mean, there was rumors about my hand. There were people who said, oh, it's all full of metal and he doesn't even have a hand. I was reading this on Reddit and I'm like, who comes up with this stuff? And to live what I lived through of 24, crazy rumors, intense rumors, switching teams, whatever all was going on to go into 2025 and be hearing all that stuff. To me, it didn't really have any effect. We focused race by race. At that time, I was with AJ4 Racing, and that's what I committed to and really focused on those results. Because at the end of the day, I have to focus on outside the background noise, what are my achievements? What do I want to accomplish? I want to win races. I want to be competitive. I want to be consistent. And that's what I'm going to focus on.

Bruce Martin: Now, your goal is to do the best job that you can do. However, you're replacing a driver who was very popular and he was the winningest IndyCar driver in Team Penske history. Some people may be comparing you to him. Do you feel that's a little unfair at this stage of your career?

David Malukas: People can compare and say what they want, but from my side, look, Will Power was a legend. I grew up watching him. That's my dream of Team Penske, my dream of IndyCar. It all started of me watching the TV, pretending to be in the races on a Razor scooter inside my house, which my mom got quite angry with me about. But I was pretending to be side-by-side with Will Power and side-by-side with Scott Dixon and these veteran drivers today that are still around and known as legends. nobody's going to be able to create the willpower legacy. That's going to always stay. You know, me coming into Team Penske, it's creating my own legacy, the David Maloukis legacy.

Bruce Martin: Speaking of legacies, at the end of the 1999 season, the team was going to rejuvenate itself. It was going to bring in Gilles de Ferrin and Greg Moore. Unfortunately, Greg Moore was killed in the last race of the 1999 season. So they went out and got this young guy who had never won a race before named Elio Castroneves. By 2000, Elio Castroneves is climbing the fence in Detroit with his first career victory. So in some ways, do you maybe see that as a little bit of a similar path that you're taking? In fact, that you're a young driver, hasn't won a race yet. Elio was a young driver, didn't win a race yet. He's now an Indianapolis 500 four-time winner and a legend. Do you see that you're part of maybe another rejuvenation of Team Penske?

David Malukas: You know, I never even thought about it that way. And hey, I mean, all kudos for it. I love it. I like that the way you said that. That's a good saying. And to be, you know, maybe in the past of Elio, I mean, Elio is a legend and he's a fantastic guy. I mean, I've was, you know, talking with him at Shank and getting close with him. I mean, what an incredible guy. I think, you know, from anybody in the paddock, that guy is just a legend of his own. So yeah, what a very good comparison. I like that.

Bruce Martin: Also, the team has undergone some significant changes of the managerial structure. What's it like working with these new guys? You don't really have any point of reference because you didn't work with the previous regime, but there's a lot of new people that are part of this program. Maybe they're not new to Team Penske, but they're new to the roles that they're in.

David Malukas: Yeah, I mean, for me, like you said, it's all new to me, so I can't really compare from how things were on the previous aspect, but comparing to my history in IndyCar and my history in motorsports and being here, growing up, even in the few years of IndyCar, this has kind of been my thing right now, is you go in these trailers, and it's these Team Penske trailers, it's all chrome, it's reflective, it's like, what's going on in there, what's going on inside, you never know. Now I get to be inside of this Cronus trailer and I can see what's going on. You always think of it from the outside. Team Penske, they're very, very strong. They're very good and they're always performing. You think that things would be very strict and very proper and all that stuff, which it is. But one thing that surprised me being here, and it's already been a short time, in a few days, I've never felt more of a welcoming, a family-friendly invitation to the team than I have here at Team Penske. I mean, everybody's been so open, and it just made me feel comfortable right away. So all that intimidation that you were talking about earlier, yeah, I felt it by the time I was walking through some of these hallways, but by the time I actually met the guys and talked with the crew, I all of a sudden felt at ease. As of right now, with everybody that I've met, it wouldn't matter, because everybody is incredible.

Bruce Martin: The other thing about being a Team Penske driver is you not only represent the brand on the racetrack, but there's an awful lot of events and things after the track closes where you're representing the Team Penske brand, whether it's be meeting with sponsors, whether it's dinners with key people that Mr. Penske and Bud Danker and the rest of the people at the Penske Corporation want you to be involved in. The driving aspect is really one part of representing this team. How prepared are you for the other aspect of representing Team Penske in the business world?

David Malukas: Yeah, of course. That's the majority of the stuff, isn't it? But no, I'm very excited for it. It's getting to know people. And that's always been my excuse. With racing, I've always been homeschooled. I've always been outside of the normal school life. So, you know, getting to know people, getting friends and all that stuff. I don't really get to go out much. It's always, you know, focus on the racing, trying to get better. So, it's actually do these social events, getting to know the sponsors and learn more about the brand. It's good for me. It increases my social bar. It's something that I need to do. Helps me get outside and talk with everybody. And it's a good time. Getting to know all these fantastic people and learning every day more and more each passing day of how this team is Performed as it is and how things function. It's very nice to be a part of it

Bruce Martin: Have you had to stock up on the business attire, the casual business attire?

David Malukas: Yes, already, immediately. You know, as soon as everything happened, I started to use the one suit that I had, and now I have five suits, I think. So, yeah, we're picking up the attire. I'm looking good. It feels good. I feel very, it feels very formal. You know, each day now, I just feel like I'm more into big date. Look in the mirror, I'm like, wow, look at me, all formal, very, very nice, organized.

Bruce Martin: Well, everybody's got to grow up fast and in some ways it gets speeded up a little here, but also the drivers that are your teammates also like to have a little fun. What's your dynamic like so far with Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin?

David Malukas: It's been good. I mean, look, a long time ago, well, I say a long time ago, but what was it? My first year, I think, in IndyCar, I did an episode when they were doing Bus Bros on Pritchett's first year or second year. So we've already always had good connections. My dad also just loves Joseph. So he's always been like, you know, my son, you know, I got to vote for him. But, you know, it wasn't for him, you know, Joseph, you know, so he's already been a fan boy himself. But getting to know Joseph, you know, we did actually an episode in Portland at the end of this year. So we've always had the relationship with Scott's always been really good. He's just naturally one of those people that are very just funny. I think you can always also just be a comedian if you wanted to. Guy's just funny to talk to. He's hilarious. And he's been super welcoming now. He's been kind of the one that's been, you know, kind of getting me comfortable with the guys and asking me a lot of questions on tests and really wants to, you can see he's very motivated to make sure that this team can perform and give as much information as possible. He seems like a team player.

Bruce Martin: These drivers also have a lot of fire in their eyes competitively, and sometimes it may even be directed to their teammates. So how difficult is that? Because in a lot of ways, your strongest competition, well, everybody's strongest competition is still Alex Pillow, but there's a lot of competition you're going to have to deal with on your own team.

David Malukas: very good we need it you know that's that's what is part of the success of a good team you need the competition between drivers you know it's all obviously we all each and every joseph sky myself we all care about the performance of the team that is the number one priority we're going to be showing all of this information with each other trying to get this car better and better You know, because the first thing is that you want to have is, let's try to make it that all the competition is just between the us three. You know, you want that team to be up there. But, you know, to get these performances to be out there and to be at the top of the top and pushing each other, you need to have that competition. So, competition is very good and just, you know, knowing about the history of Joseph and Scott, how competitive they are and just being a part of it now and hearing them and seeing You know, with my eyes, how it is internally, I'm very excited and I think it's going to be a very good trio.

Bruce Martin: Speaking of Alex Palou, what's it going to take to really stop his streak of IndyCar championships and his domination? He won eight races in 2025. He doesn't really show any signs of slowing down. You hear Chip Ganassi saying the best is yet to come. Well, if the best is yet to come, then a lot of people are going to be struggling to beat him. But when do you think that'll turn? We'll start seeing drivers maybe such as yourself or other talented drivers in IndyCar step up and start bringing the fight to them.

David Malukas: Yeah, it's a good question. It's tough to say. I think from my side, all I know is that it's going to be a team effort from our guys. We're going to have to really work hard and make sure that we can do the best that we know we can do. But yeah, kudos to Alex. He's had an incredible year, and he had an incredible year even the previous year, and he just got even better. You could definitely see that he is in his peak years right now. But if you look at the age and maturity from where he's at, he's just at that perfect time for being an all-around driver. I think it comes through generations in time. It's going to be tough, but I think you have to look at it from a very good side. To be at a driver who's being compared with A.J. Foyt when it comes to records. I remember watching these broadcasts, these records that he's trying to go up against. It's insane. He's just starting to grow the facial hair, like I said, so he's still got time. And to be in these years with a driver that's this impressive, I'm learning from him. I can get that data, get that feedback, and make myself better, because there's still time for all of us to reach our peak. And that's not just me. There's a lot of other younger drivers in the IndyCar paddock right now that's having that same sort of transition. So for now, it's going to be tough to compete. But through time, he's just going to make the rest of the field better and get closer towards him.

Bruce Martin: We'll be right back to Pit Pass Indie after this short break. Welcome back to Pit Pass Indie. Let's return to the rest of our fireside chat with Team Penske's David Maloukis with this exclusive Pit Pass Indie interview. Previously, a lot of the testing was done by the 12 crew and the driver at that time, Will Power, who was in the 12, did an awful lot of Team Penske's testing. Scott may have had other things that he was involved in. Joseph may have had other things that he was involved in. But if the bulk of the testing falls to you, that can only help you improve and get better.

David Malukas: Of course, yes. No, I mean, yeah, we'll see how that dynamic goes. At the time, obviously, Will Power was a veteran. I am the new guy coming into the team now, so we've already done a single test already. I mean, as soon as we came in for that gateway test, so it feels good from my side and the fact that they trust me. I'm the new guy, but they trust me. They know that my feedback is going to be strong and they're not worried on what's he going to say, what's right or what's wrong. You know, from my side, I'm an open book. I want to give every feedback that I can because I just want to see this team succeed. I want to make it better. So, yeah, it feels very good. And if I can be a part of all that testing, I mean, that's a win for me.

Bruce Martin: Your background, your father runs HMD Trucking, also one of the most successful Indynext teams in IndyCar. Very avid in motorsports. What was it like growing up in that environment? In Indynext? In the Malukas family.

David Malukas: Oh, the Malukas family.

Bruce Martin: Your parents' love for motorsports. And also just if you could briefly fill in for a lot of the listeners who may not know how your family got to this point.

David Malukas: Yeah, it's a fantastic story, and it's for sure part of the motivations of why I'm even here and at Team Penske today. When they grew up in Lithuania, in 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed, Lithuania became independent, so they came to America, they had the freedom to go. They started, they wanted to build their own American dream. And my dad was a truck driver, my mom was a dispatcher, and together they worked very hard in the Chicago base. And they are now, today, I think around 650 trucks, HMD Trucking. So it's a fantastic story, it's a fantastic American dream story to come here, very similar age to what I am now, and didn't know any English, and had no money, and started from nothing and built everything. They were obviously my biggest helpers for my racing and trying to get up through the ranks and always supporting me. I guess knowing their story and everything that they sacrificed to get here and give me the life that my parents always wanted. They had racing backgrounds, but in the Soviet Union at the time, they didn't really have those capabilities, the opportunities to do any of that. And so here in America, my dad's also kind of living his dream a little bit through me. And it's kind of vice versa. So it was a big motivator. There's a lot of years, you know, very, very poor years. It looks like I'm not performing and maybe this isn't for me, all these things, but I just kept pushing because I knew, you know, we're already so deep into this. My parents gave me this life and I have to do something with it.

Bruce Martin: How bilingual are you?

David Malukas: I used to be very good. Actually, when I first grew up into this world, I actually didn't speak English. I only spoke Lithuanian. Then I had to go to school, and that was very tough to go to kindergarten and not understand whatever anybody was saying. But then I had to learn English, so it was pretty much 50-50 until I'd say around I was 15, 16 years old when I started traveling the world a little bit more, needing to learn other languages and the Lithuanian language kind of went a little bit away. So I can still understand everything that people say. I speak it. I just have a heavy American accent sometimes. So it's, you know, it's a little bit rough.

Bruce Martin: Also, since I'm a bit of a foodie, what are some of the dishes that you grew up eating that were from Lithuania?

David Malukas: Oh, um, blinė. It's kind of like, um, blinė. How do I explain it? It's like a form of, I guess, pancake, but that you could, sovarške inside. It's kind of like a, what is that? It's like a cottage cheese texture, but it's very sweet. That was very good. Ricotta. Yeah, like a recap, but no, but it's, it's, I don't know. It's, it's very specific. Um, um, I had, what else was there called Dune? Um, let's cook a, it's kind of more like very potato based. Anything in Lithuania is potato based. Um, there's a joke that I used to, I'm forgetting the name for it, but people joked about calling it the Pepto-Bismol Soup because it's just bright pink and it's red beets and it's red beet soup. And you actually put some hard-boiled eggs in there too. It's very, very good. That's a big classic for me. Don't hate it, though. You gotta try it. I'm seeing your face. It's really good, I'm telling you.

Bruce Martin: I eat beets, but adding hard-boiled eggs to it might be a little bit of a stretch for me.

David Malukas: Listen, afterwards, you might, you know, the gas, it's, you know, it's…

Bruce Martin: I wasn't going to go there with it. I just kind of thought the flavor profile was a little unique.

David Malukas: But it's good. Um, and then Mandakosha, um, it's kind of, that's a breakfast thing and you put cinnamon and brown sugar on top of it and it's kind of like, I don't, I don't know, is it grits? I don't know. It's kind of like oatmeal grits, something like that, but it's like a, it's very smooth and it's a smooth texture. It's like a, it's white, it's smooth. I think it's like a form of grit, but it's very smooth textured and you put some cinnamon and sugar on top of it. Man, it's so good. That's like my childhood right there. And that's for breakfast. But Listen, anything is very potato-based. That's a strong Lithuanian diet.

Bruce Martin: I actually made some chicken paprikash about a month ago. The authentic Hungarian version. It was quite good. I don't know how healthy it was, but I always wanted to try it, and I wanted to try the real stuff.

David Malukas: It's about the flavor, man.

Bruce Martin: Well, it's all about the imported paprika. You gotta get the imported, real paprika from Hungary. Makes all the difference in the world. Not the stuff necessarily you buy off the supermarket shelf. Now, I will turn you on to something. There is a European grill on Central Avenue in Charlotte, so you may have to scout that out after you move here.

David Malukas: Ooh, okay, that's interesting. Yeah, I'll have to scout it out, see the flavor profiles. Yeah, we'll see that out. But if you're in the Chicago area and you're looking for some good food, HMD Bar and Grill has got some good food over there. I'll do a little shout out, you know?

Bruce Martin: So you've started your own bar and grill now?

David Malukas: My parents have, not me. But yeah, the HMD Bar and Grill, it's good food, man. We got everything from some good burgers to actually some really good steak. All the way, like, imported from Japan. You got that A5 Wagyu.

Bruce Martin: Dale Coyne told me about a place in Joliet called Minerska. I don't know whether you've been there or not. It's a place that he raved about it. Here's the problem. I love Chicago. If I lived in Chicago, I wouldn't stand a chance weight-wise because I would be eating an Italian beef sandwich every day. And unfortunately, I hate to break this to you, you're not going to find a good Chicago Italian beef in Charlotte.

David Malukas: But people were telling me there's good food around here, a lot of good food options.

Bruce Martin: But you're probably not going to find North Carolina barbecue in Chicago.

David Malukas: Yeah, yeah, that's true.

Bruce Martin: Well, yes. If you want good North Carolina barbecue, you pretty much have to travel for it because Charlotte, because of the city's rapid growth, their barbecue establishments are what us traditionalists would call boutique barbecue. It's not really the old smokehouse. Basically, it's just throw out a plate of chopped pork. It's a little bit more, they do it more for the presentation than they do the actual flavor. But you're an athlete, a professional athlete, you're fit and trim, you're watching your health. So probably not going to be eating much barbecue here anytime soon. Going back though, You're a bit of a comeback story yourself because you had high hopes when you were at Errol McLaren and you never got to turn a wheel for them in competition. You broke your wrist in a mountain biking accident and that had to be the lowest moment of your life when they terminated your contract after the barber race. How crushed were you and how do you describe what you did to get to this level? We're here now driving for one of the elite teams in motorsports history.

David Malukas: Well, I think everything happens for a reason. If I look back at that time, it was the most crushing moment of my life, to be honest. We've had some hardships, but to be so close to achieving so much success in IndyCar and being with one of the top teams, it was hard for me to lose everything just like that, just because of a little mistake that I made. So it was hard. But when I look back at it, I think everything happens for a reason. And that situation, when I was about to go to McLaren, of course, it's a fantastic team. But when I grew up, you know, I wasn't looking at the TV and being like, oh, you know, McLaren, McLaren. It was Team Penske, right? Like, that was my dream. That is what I always wanted. And if you told me in 24 when everything happened that, oh, you would go from You know, oh, after everything that's happened, I would be at Team Penske. Of course I didn't think that. But I believe now very much that everything happens for a reason. And I mean, God knew what I wanted to do, what my dreams were. And through everything that happened and how it all played out, I somehow ended up at my dream place, my dream home of where I wanted to be. But through that hardship, it was hard. And again, when I look back at it, it was always thinking about my parents' story, coming to America, didn't speak any English, didn't have any money, didn't even have anything to start with that life. That was my big motivation going through there. They were my number one supporters because I'm sitting there, I'm crying, I'm whining, you know, like my hand is broken, I've lost my ride, everything's… is ending, it's all over. My parents are like, dude, we were your age and we didn't even speak any English, we didn't have any money and we're over here and we built a life. You gotta put your head down and you'll be able to do it. So, through their guidance, I put my head down and I said, look, I'm not gonna give up, I gotta keep working for it. And I made sure I talked with everybody at IndyCar, I contacted them at IndyCar, got involved in the media, showed my face around at the 500. had a good time and in the meantime behind doors every day I was working on my hand and you can actually talk with the media people, I had all these crazy contraptions on my wrist doing stretches and doing finger exercises trying to get all my muscles back up and running because I said, man, an opportunity is going to come and I have to be ready, I have to try really hard. show my face, I'm doing everything. And soon after the 500 of 2024, I get the miracle ride from Shank and to be involved in that team. And, um, man, Laguna, that was the hardest race ever. I mean, they freshly repaved, first race back into the car. And man, that was a hard one for the wrist. But we survived. We did it and followed the next race, mid-Ohio, and we're qualifying third with one and a half hands. So it was a good comeback story and something that I think I needed to achieve the driver I am today, to be able to be the driver that I can be in Team Penske. I think from God's perspective or whatever it may be and what's happening, I think they knew, look, you're not the driver. that you need to be right now to be at Team Penske. And through everything that happened to me, I think it finally was like, OK, you're ready and we're going to open the doors for you.

Bruce Martin: Because of his age, AJ Foyt doesn't go to a lot of races. But what do you recall of those moments that you got to spend with AJ Foyt?

David Malukas: They were very special. I think it was again, it was hard for me because it's kind of like a superstar, starstruck moment when you're trying to talk to him. And he starts telling me all of his good stories from his past times. And it's hard for me to be comfortable because, you know, I'm like, man, it's like AJ Foyne, he's just casually having a conversation with me. But it was awesome to be a part of this team because, especially at the 500, you know, at the time he was kind of struggling with some health stuff, so it was hard for him to come to these races, but he always came to the 500. And when he came after qualifying, he actually came to me and he was like, hey man, I'm watching this stuff, you have some good talent here that I can see, and I'm very glad that you're with us right now. And that moment right there, I was like, man, I can't believe it. I can't believe he just said that to me. And you know, it could be maybe I'm driving for his team, he's being nice, but it felt very genuine, man. It felt like he was actually speaking to me. And after qualifying, I think we were starting seventh for the race, and he told me, he's like, hey, man, I won one of my races from seventh, so I think it's a good opportunity for you. So everything was aligning. Oh, it was, man, the 500 just feels like a dream just looking back at it. It was incredible. So a lot of good stuff with Foyt, even though it was short-lived.

Bruce Martin: So I could ask a similar question, but what's it like when you have conversations with Roger Penske?

David Malukas: Roger Penske, you know, he called me actually after my injury and my outing with everything at McLaren. And he, it was a call of, you know, just saying, you know, keep your head up, you know, you're a good driver, you know, these things happen and you're going to got to keep working hard. And it was nice to hear that from, you know, from the Roger Penske and to get a call from him. It was nice, and we kept in touch, and obviously the way things played out through Schenck and Foyt, we had a good few races here at Foyt, and he reached back out to me, and obviously this whole deal happened. But in the beginning, again, when you're thinking of Roger Penske and thinking of my dream, the success that they've had, and his history, That was, I'm not going to lie, that one was a first time to talk to him. It was tough. It was intimidating. I was getting nervous, everything. I'm like, man, I can't believe it's Roger Bensky and he's just having a normal conversation with me. This is crazy. But it was awesome. It was a very good conversation. And obviously, the way things played out, we're part of the team now. After the few conversations I had with him, I realized what makes him so special and why he's here and how he's built everything. And he made me feel so comfortable. He made me feel like I'm just a good friend of his. And having a good conversation, we started talking about his races in the past and the history of IndyCar and all that stuff. It made me feel comfortable, and I think that's just what's blown me away here is that everybody makes me feel comfortable. It makes me feel at home, and I don't feel, you know, all that intimidation that I must have felt in the beginning. It quickly dwindles away, and I'm just, you know, ready to focus on what's in front of me, perform, and try to achieve success for them.

Bruce Martin: You made the most of your time in the four car at AJ Foyt Racing. Your replacement is going to be an HMD driver, Kale Collette. How well do you think he's going to do and what do you expect out of him at AJ Foyt Racing now that he's going to be an IndyCar in 2026?

David Malukas: He's going to do very well. He did an awesome job, a fantastic job at HMD, and it was very good. I knew him from karting, actually. He was known as the Brazilian legend. I always called him the Neymar Jr. of go-karting at the time, because he was just so fast. And that was part of the reason why we brought him to HMD. two cents that I had on him from the past. But no, he's an incredible driver and he'll do a fantastic job. And it's very good to have him at the AJ Foyt team. Those guys are really good guys and a fantastic car that he'll have. And he's going to do a very good job. And I think it's also good for us having that alliance. We can still have a very good driver to get feedback and data. And it's also fantastic to have somebody, again, coming through the HMD Motorsports Indynex program.

Bruce Martin: What are your goals in 2026?

David Malukas: Consistency. Perform at my best. I think that's kind of been something that I've really been working on towards last season. You have your few races, one or two or three good races here or there, but I want to have a good race every single time. I want to go out there. I want to be performative. I want to be up top. When they hear these power rankings or these numbers, you want to know, I want to see my name involved in that going into every week and I want to have that consistency. And I feel like to me, that's what matters. When you have that consistency, everything's going to come and you'll slowly start working towards all the ultimate goals that you want.

Bruce Martin: And in our final question for David Maloukas of Team Penske, when you put on the Team Penske driver uniform and get into the Team Penske car, in some ways, does that almost feel like what it must be like to put on the Yankee pinstripes?

David Malukas: Yeah, I mean, I guess you could put it that way. Yes, it very much feels that way. And I, I can't wait with all the proper gear that we're going to have, uh, with all the proper Verizon stuff and getting the, the helmet, everything to do the first photo shoots and all that, all those good stuff. It's going to be fantastic to see, uh, to see my face, um, on, on all those, um, logos and on office. So very excited. And of course I can't wait to step into the proper car and I don't know where our first test is probably going to be. Um, but whenever it may be, I am, um, very excited and can't wait.

Bruce Martin: Well, David Maloukas, welcome aboard. Good luck at Team Penske. I'm sure we'll be chatting a lot in the 2026 season, but good luck with that. And thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy.

David Malukas: Thank you for having me.

Bruce Martin: We'll be right back to Pit Pass Indy after this short break. That puts a checkered flag on this edition of Pit Pass Indy as we continue racing into 2026. We want to thank our guest, David Maloukis of Team Penske, for joining us on this week's Pit Pass Indy. Along with loyal listeners like you, our guests help make Pit Pass Indy your path to victory lane in IndyCar. For more IndyCar coverage, follow me at X, previously known as Twitter, at BruceMartin, one word, uppercase B, uppercase M, underscore 500. This has been a production of Evergreen Podcast. A special thanks to our production team. Executive producers are Bridget Coyne and Gerardo Orlando. Recordings and edits were done by me, Bruce Martin, and final mixing was done by Sean Rule Hoffman and Nathan Corson. Learn more at evergreenpodcast.com. Until next time, be sure to keep it out of the wall.