Malukas, Ferrucci deliver stout Top-10 Indy 500 results for Foyt Racing
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
A podium finish in Sunday’s 109th Indianapolis 500 for A.J. Foyt Racing unashamedly moved David Malukas to tears over what-might-have-been at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
David Malukas – (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)
For the record, Malukas’ Indy 500 career-best third and the seventh-place result recorded by teammate Santino Ferrucci were the first top-10s for Waller, Texas-based Foyt Racing at IMS since May 28, 2000. Foyt’s drivers that day? Eliseo Salazar of Chile and Jeff Ward finished third and fourth, respectively, in a pair of G Force/Oldsmobile entries during the often-chaotic fledgling years of the Indy Racing League.
Ancient history to Malukas, the 23-year-old Chicagoan who clearly marked a turning point in his star-crossed INDYCAR career.
May 23, 2025; Speedway, Indiana David Malukas, A.J. Foyt Enterprises practices on Carb Day before the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Credit: Michael C. Johnson
“Bittersweet ending, but what a good race,” Malukas said after completing his first Indy 500 for the organization fronted by 90-year-old INDYCAR icon A.J. Foyt Jr. of Houston. “I’m not going to lie…I was crying coming into the pits (after the checkered flag). Man, we were just so close to getting it. It’s bittersweet because we didn’t get it.”
A combination of late-race, lapped traffic and mercurial/first-time Indy 500 winner Alex Palou relegated Malukas to P3.
“It’s a little bit of a breakthrough,” said Malukas, driver of the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet. “This is third time here but kind of three-and-a-half seasons, fourth season, I don’t know how you put that. But I’ve definitely matured a lot since the last time I was here. It’s an incredible car. I think we’ve always had the maximum success we could out of the cars but everything lined-up for us, from the team to the guys.”
David Malukas – Indianapolis 500 – Photo by Joe Skibinski
Malukas started seventh in the traditional 33-car field and only dropped out of the top-10 for seven of 200 laps around the famed 2.5-mile oval during a pit stop cycle. Beginning a few laps past halfway, Malukas never raced outside the top-three. He motored into second on Lap 60 and held that point until Lap 86. On Lap 120, Malukas moved into second before taking the lead on Lap 133 with Ferrucci shadowing him in second in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet. The Foyt Racing duo darted into the pits on the next lap.
Malukas climbed back into second on Lap 164 for five circuits behind 2014 Indy 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay in the No. 23 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Wedbush Securities Chevrolet. That was the last of the 48 laps-led by “Captain America.” Palou made his final pit stop on Lap 168, playing a potentially dangerous game with fuel mileage, as 32 laps was around the maximum fuel distance on one tank.
Malukas took the lead on Lap 169 when RHR pitted. Malukas then made his final stop on Lap 170, handing the lead to 2022 Indy 500 champion Marcus Ericsson, driver of the No. 28 Allegra Honda fielded by Andretti Global. Malukas exited the pits ahead of Palou, giving him perhaps a chance to contend for the win once Ericsson made his final stop.
May 23, 2025; Speedway, Indiana Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing practices on Carb Day before the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Credit: Michael C. Johnson
But Palou hustled past Malukas for position, taking advantage of lapped traffic that had slowed Malukas. Ericsson made his final stop on Lap 175 with slick service from Andretti Global and exited the pits in front of Palou and Malukas. Palou then thrilled the sellout crowd of 350,000 on Lap 187 by using the aerodynamic tow from Ericsson’s car to dive under the Swede entering Turn 1 for the last of the race’s 22 lead changes.
“We had those lappers ahead of us that were making it difficult,” said Ericsson, a 34-year-old native of Kumla, Sweden. “He got a run on me. I didn’t know if he was going to go for it or not. That’s the thing that I’m thinking about constantly now _ I should have covered that inside, of course.”
Ericsson stayed close to Palou for the next 13 laps but never got close enough to make a run to earn a second facial likeness on the Borg-Warner Trophy. “That was painful,” Ericsson said. “To miss out, so close again. Second time second-place here, and this is a winner-takes-all kind of place. It’s really painful.”
May 25, 2025; Speedway, Indiana Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing celebrates after winning the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Credit: Michael C. Johnson
Palou, a 28-year-old native of Spain, won under caution when “500” rookie Nolan Siegel crashed his No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet in Turn 2 on the final lap. Palou, the three-time/reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion, is the first Spaniard to win the Indy 500. Alex’s first series oval-track victory checked-off the only missing element from his otherwise brilliant INDYCAR resume.
“Seeing our position and how good we were, I mean, we had it at the end there,” Malukas said. “Definitely picturing it, and man, we gave it our all in those last…I think it was about 15 to go, and we turned it up and I was just hanging on for dear life trying to get something out of it. Those two lapped cars kind of came in and ruined the fun for us and chose this winner. That’s just kind of how this track goes.”
Still, a fast race car, precise pit stops, solid strategy from atop the pit box and a determined driver combined for an uplifting Foyt Racing result in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
“I mean, we did everything right,” Malukas said. “The guys, the team, they did an incredible job. And, man, it’s just bad timing at the end there and they got us. We tried to get that set up to where it needed to be on that final run, but I’ve never been in that final situation before so we kinda made a guess with the wing (adjustment). Look, I’m really happy. It was an incredible run for us.
“In fact, it was an incredible job from the whole team _ Clarience Technologies, Foyt guys. But, yeah, we missed out on the end there. Third and seventh for this team. That’s a pretty strong finish in Indy. I was looking the whole time, and I saw the No. 14 car also up there. I mean, it was, like, P3, P5 at times. It goes to show these guys really care for this, and they did an incredible job. We were cutting everybody off in the pit stops. These guys were on it. I kinda feel like I let them down on that final run. But, yeah, a lot of positives to take away.”
David Malukas during the Indy 500 in Indianapolis, IN (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)
Recall that Foyt Racing signed Malukas to a multi-year contract beginning with the 2025 season on Aug. 15, 2024, after a tumultuous turn of career events.
Malukas finished second in the INDY NXT by Firestone standings in 2021 before advancing to the NTT IndyCar Series with Dale Coyne Racing’s traditionally underfunded team in 2022. Malukas completed the 2023 season with DCR before signing with Arrow McLaren beginning with the 2024 season. But Malukas never turned a competitive lap with the organization after tearing ligaments in his left wrist in a mountain bike accident while training in February of 2024. Forced to sit out the season’s first four races while recuperating, Malukas saw his Arrow McLaren contract terminated in late April.
Malukas returned to the series in June 2024 as driver of Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 66 Honda entry. He subsequently qualified in the top-12 in four of his first five races. Malukas described his 2024 season as “very chaotic” while looking forward to re-booting his career with Foyt’s organization, which has a technical alliance with Team Penske. Malukas completed the final five events of the 2024 season with MSR.
“Yeah, I mean, this past year that I’ve had has been the toughest year I think of my life really,” Malukas said. “It was a lot of different emotions, roller-coasters. And if I look back one year ago today, I wasn’t even in INDYCAR anymore. I didn’t have a left hand and I was up here in the Media Center just being a fan. And I could say one year later that I’m back in the 500 and not just back but I’m fighting for the win, which is incredible to say.
“It’s been an insane year. It’s always going to be a year of maturity for me. I’ve aged _ although it was a year, I feel like I’ve aged 10. Everything happens for a reason and I’m taking all this knowledge and everything I’ve learned in the past year and all the hardships and going to put it into more success in the future.”
Malukas’ previous career-best series finish was second on Worldwide Technology Raceway’s 1.25-mile oval in Madison, Ill., in 2022. “I love them (ovals),” Malukas said. “I mean, we’ve been having a lot of success on short ovals, but at least finally we could say pretty good success here at the 500.
“You’ve got to look at it from a positive standpoint. The guys did an incredible job from start-to-finish. And that’s not speaking about the race, it’s speaking about this month. As soon as we unloaded the car, we’ve put the car in the right direction and never took a blindside. Our path was clear, and it kind of led to getting this P3 finish. That comes down to them. It was from the engineers and mechanics, just an incredible job.
“And I think we needed it. If I look at it from a championship standpoint and the season as a whole, we got a little bit of a rough start. So, I think this has been a very good month for us to boost morale and lead us for the rest of the season.”
While acknowledging the benefits of Foyt Racing’s technical alliance with Team Penske, Malukas made it clear his No. 4 Chevy was not a copy of any of Penske’s three-car juggernaut. “I don’t think it’s fair,” Malukas said. “I think it’s an A.J. Foyt car. Those are the guys that are working on it, and it’s the A.J. Foyt team. So all the credit goes to A.J. Foyt. That’s what I’m driving. That’s what’s on my suit.”
However, Malukas’ methodical drive on Sunday figures to add to mounting speculation that he soon may be headed to Team Penske. Will Power, the 2018 Indy 500 winner and a two-time series champion for team founder/owner Roger S. Penske, is in the final year of his current contract. Pre-event speculation had Malukas eventually replacing the 44-year-old Australian, pending a decision by “The Captain.”
May 23, 2025; Speedway, Indiana Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Enterprises practices on Carb Day before the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Credit: Michael C. Johnson
Ferrucci, meanwhile, continued his streak of finishing in the top-10 of every Indy 500 he has started, placing seventh after starting 15th. It was not without a struggle, however, as several fasteners on the car’s right sidepod came out which affected the aerodynamics.
The No. 14 crew managed to get a fastener in during the fourth of five pit stops without losing too much time. Ferrucci came back to fifth and ran there until his final stop, when a pit hiccup dropped him back a few spots. Ferrucci rallied into sixth but relinquished that position to Kyle Kirkwood and his No. 27 Siemens Honda of Andretti Global with nine laps to go.
“I was overdriving it and wore my tires out at the end,” said Ferrucci, a 26-year-old native of Woodbury, Conn., now living in Dallas. “Honestly, the crew did an amazing job. They got the sidepod bolted back on the car during a green flag stop, which was, I mean, damn impressive and we needed it on. So, 120 laps of it flapping in the wind wasn’t great. But the last stop, we had an issue and we just lost some time, it kind of pulled us outside of the top-five. Nothing we can do from there.
May 25, 2025; Speedway, Indiana Santino Ferrucci, AJ Foyt Enterprises gives an interview after the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Credit: Michael C. Johnson
“Crew did a great job. I mean, strategy was great. It gave us kind of what we deserved. It would be nice to come back here in a year and just have a perfectly clean month.”
Incredibly, Foyt Racing has not won an INDYCAR race since April 21, 2013, when Japanese ace Takuma Sato won the prestigious Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach street race in the No. 14 Dallara/Honda.
That drought aside, Team President Larry Foyt was thrilled and encouraged after Sunday’s top-10 performances. Last time the entire Foyt entry list finished in the top-10 at IMS was in 1999, when Sweden’s Kenny Brack won the 83rd Indy 500 in the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Power Team Dallara/Oldsmobile Aurora. Billy Boat took third in Foyt’s No. 11 entry and Robbie Buhl finished sixth in the No. 84 car.
The aforementioned Salazar placed third in the No. 11 Rio A.J. Foyt Racing G Force/Oldsmobile and former motorcycle racer Ward finished fourth in the No. 14 Harrah’s A.J. Foyt Racing G Force/Olds in 2000.
“It was a great day for Foyt Racing but one of those days that leaves you wanting more,” said Larry Foyt, A.J.’s youngest son, who was overseen team operations since 2015. “I’m so proud of this team for getting both cars in the top-10, and one even in the top-three, but we all want to win, and we all feel that way. David drove an amazing race and the crew was on-point to give us a chance for the win.
“Santino drove through some adversity with a car body issue that the team did an amazing job to fix in the pits, but made the win difficult. Still, it was a great team effort and shows what we are capable of. I’m looking forward to this momentum for the rest of the season.”
The elder Foyt arrived in Indianapolis for the Sansio Grand Prix on the IMS Road-Course earlier this Month of May just two days after a stent procedure.
“I thought the boys and the crews did a great job,” said “Super Tex,” first four-time winner of the Indy 500 who was participating in his 68th consecutive classic at the Speedway. “I was hoping the way they started off running, it would be a little further up but all-in-all, we had a good day. Neither car crashed and the boys got in the top-10, so what else can you ask for after 500 miles?”
Malukas termed Sunday’s outcome “very necessary” for the organization. “If we just look outside of the 500 and the championship, we really needed this,” Malukas said. “And I think it’s going to be a big turning point for the team and for everybody that we can be there and things can go our way if we just have some luck.
“The morale is very high in the team. Even though we were still P3, man, it’s an incredible time. So many things can go wrong in that race. Everything went forward for us and the crew did an insane job on the pit stops, the engineers, incredible time and gave me a great car and strategists were on-point.
“A lot, a lot of positives to take out of it, and we’re going to push into results for the rest of the season.”
The series heads north to Detroit this week for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on the Streets of Downtown Motown on Sunday, June 1. Live broadcast coverage is schedule for 12:30 p.m. (EDT) on FOX Sports, FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Results Sunday of the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge NTT IndyCar Series event on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps-completed and reason out (if any):
- (6) Alex Palou, Honda, 200, Running
2. (9) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 200, Running
3. (7) David Malukas, Chevrolet, 200, Running
4. (3) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 200, Running
5. (5) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 200, Running
6. (23) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 200, Running
7. (15) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 200, Running
8. (18) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 200, Running
9. (8) Christian Lundgaard, Chevrolet, 200, Running
10. (11) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 200, Running
11. (2) Takuma Sato, Honda, 200, Running
12. (21) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 200, Running
13. (22) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 200, Running
14. (16) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 200, Running
15. (20) Louis Foster, Honda, 200, Running
16. (24) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 199, Contact
17. (27) Colton Herta, Honda, 199, Running
18. (14) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 199, Running
19. (33) Will Power, Chevrolet, 199, Running
20. (28) Graham Rahal, Honda, 199, Running
21. (30) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 198, Running
22. (26) Jack Harvey, Chevrolet, 198, Running
23. (4) Scott Dixon, Honda, 197, Running
24. (25) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 171, Mechanical
25. (32) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 134, Mechanical
26. (17) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 91, Contact
27. (19) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 91, Contact
28. (13) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 91, Contact
29. (1) Robert Shwartzman, Chevrolet, 87, Contact
30. (31) Rinus VeeKay, Honda, 80, Contact
31. (12) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 73, Mechanical
32. (29) Marco Andretti, Honda, 4, Contact
33. (10) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 0, Contact
Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 168.883 mph
Time of Race: 2:57:38.2965
Margin of victory: Under caution
Cautions: 7 for 45 laps
Lead changes: 22 among 14 drivers
Lap Leaders
Shwartzman, Robert 1 – 8
O’Ward, Pato 9 – 10
Sato, Takuma 11 – 23
Rossi, Alexander 24 – 29
Rasmussen, Christian 30 – 32
Rossi, Alexander 33 – 36
Rasmussen, Christian 37 – 38
Rossi, Alexander 39 – 42
Carpenter, Ed 43
Harvey, Jack 44 – 46
Sato, Takuma 47 – 60
Kirkwood, Kyle 61 – 62
Sato, Takuma 63 – 86
Hunter-Reay, Ryan 87 – 102
DeFrancesco, Devlin 103 – 119
Daly, Conor 120 – 132
Malukas, David 133
Hunter-Reay, Ryan 134 – 139
Rasmussen, Christian 140 – 142
Hunter-Reay, Ryan 143 – 168
Malukas, David 169
Ericsson, Marcus 170 – 186
Palou, Alex 187 – 200
NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 306; 2, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 191; 3, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 180; 4, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 177; 5, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 163; 6, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 150; 7, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 145; 8, Will Power, Team Penske, 140; 9, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 117; 10, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 115;
11, David Malukas, A.J. Foyt Racing, 105; 12, Rinus VeeKay, Dale Coyne Racing, 105; 13, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 104; 14, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 103; 15, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 102; 16, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 100; 17, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 99; 18, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 91; 19, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 79; 20, Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 79;
21, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 67; 22, Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing, 65; 23, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 64; 24, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 61; 25, Devlin DeFrancesco, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 61; 26, Callum Ilott, Prema Racing, 58; 27, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 33; 28, Jacob Abel, Dale Coyne Racing, 28; 29, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing, 17; 30, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 13;
31, Jack Harvey, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports, 9; 32, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports, 7; 33, Kyle Larson, Arrow McLaren with Henrick Motorsports, 5; 34 Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb-Agajanian, 5.
FOX SPORTS’ 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST COVERAGE SCHEDULE
Sunday, March 2 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, March 23 _The Thermal Club, Thermal, Calif. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, April 13 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif. (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)
Sunday, May 4 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Saturday, May 10 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, May 25 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, June 1 _ Streets of Detroit (FOX, 12:30 p.m.)
Sunday, June 15 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill. (FOX, 8 p.m.)
Sunday, June 22 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis. (FOX, 1:30 p.m.)
Sunday, July 6 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington (FOX, 1 p.m.)
Saturday, July 12 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 1 (FOX, 5 p.m.)
Sunday, July 13 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 2 (FOX, 1 p.m.)
Sunday, July 20 _ Streets of Toronto, Canada (FOX, noon)
Sunday, July 27 _ WeatherTech Raceway, Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif. (FOX, 3 p.m.)
Sunday, Aug. 10 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway (FOX, 3 p.m.)
Sunday, Aug. 24 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis. (FOX, 2 p.m.)
Sunday, Aug. 31 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn. (2:30 p.m.)
NOTE _ All times Eastern. Dates and times subject to change.
