Malukas moving to A.J. Foyt Racing in 2025
David Malukas. Photo by Chris Owens
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
A.J. Foyt Racing has jumped into open-wheel racing’s Silly Season by signing star-crossed David Malukas to a multi-year contract beginning with the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season.
Malukas, 22, will drive one of Foyt Racing’s Chevrolet-powered Dallaras alongside a teammate yet to be confirmed. The team news release announcing Malukas’ hire did not indicate the 2025 status of its current drivers, Dallas resident Santino Ferrucci and Sting Ray Robb. Ferrucci is 10th in the driver standings in Foyt’s No. 14 Chevrolet, while Robb is 21st in the No. 41 Chevy heading into Saturday night’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 on the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway oval in Madison, Ill.
“I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to join A.J. Foyt Racing,” Malukas said in the release. “The team has performed very well this season and I can’t wait to get to work with them and immerse myself in that environment.
“The history and success of both A.J. Foyt Racing and A.J. Foyt himself were key factors in my decision to join the team. Everyone knows that A.J. is a legend and he was someone whose name I always heard growing up. To have the opportunity to work alongside him and drive for his team is very special. I am starting a new chapter in my INDYCAR career, and I am eager to achieve strong results with A.J. Foyt Racing.”
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 joining 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. 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 as driver of Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 66 Honda entry. The native of Chicago has qualified in the top-12 in four of his last five races. Malukas started and finished sixth in the series’ most recent event, the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto on July 21.
Malukas described his 2024 season to-date as “very chaotic” while looking forward to re-booting his career with Foyt’s Texas-based organization.
“I am mostly looking forward to being a part of such a special team,” Malukas said. “The recent alliance with Team Penske this season has clearly been beneficial, and I want to be sure that we build the right environment, not just for myself, but for the mechanics, engineers and everyone else who makes this all possible. In the few years I have been in INDYCAR, I have found that a strong team dynamic is crucial for success. As long as we focus on building good chemistry, I am confident that the results will follow.”
Malukas will complete the final five events of the 2024 season with MSR. Coincidentally, Malukas’ best career finish is second in 2022 on the WWTR oval, site of Saturday night’s race. USA Network’s live telecast from WWTR will begin at 6 p.m. (EDT).
The 2025 schedule will open on Sunday, March 2, on the Streets of St. Petersburg in Florida, the first of 17 races to be broadcast by new partner FOX network television.
“David will be a great addition to A.J. Foyt Racing,” Team President Larry Foyt said. “He is a fierce competitor who possesses a great deal of natural talent. I think David will be a super-fit with our engineers and mechanics, and he will be an important factor as we continue to ascend the INDYCAR rankings.”
INDYCAR journeyman Conor Daly has been hired to drive the No. 78 Chevrolet fielded by Juncos Hollinger Racing beginning with this weekend’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill. A 32-year-old native of Noblesville, Ind., Daly has replaced Augustin Canapino of Argentina as teammate to Frenchman Romain Grosjean for the remainder of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season.
“I am extremely pleased to reunite with Ricardo Juncos after our success together in the Road to Indy,” said Daly, who won the Pro Mazda championship with the organization in 2010. “Ricardo took a chance on me when I was young and it made a huge difference in my career. There are a lot of people on this team that I’ve worked with before and that gives me a lot of confidence.
“What Brad Hollinger and Ricardo have built here is extremely impressive in a short amount of time and I consider myself very lucky to get to compete for the rest of the season and earn the necessary points for this No. 78 Chevrolet. There are a lot of partners in this effort and I appreciate the support behind me to get back in the race seat.”
NTT IndyCar Series point standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 411; 2, Will Power, Team Penske, 362; 3, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 358; 4, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 354; 5, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 340; 6, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 328; 7, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 314; 8, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 266; 9, Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren, 265; 10, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 231;
11, Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 229; 12, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 222; 13, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 221; 14, Marcus Armstrong, Chip Ganassi Racing, 203; 15, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing, 201; 16, Romain Grosjean, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 199; 17, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 197; 18, Linus Lundqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing, 173; 19, Pietro Fittipaldi, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 135; 20, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 133;
21, Sting Ray Robb, A.J. Foyt Racing, 121; 22, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 109; 23, Augustin Canapino, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 109; 24, Theo Pourchaire, Arrow McLaren, 91; 25, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 88; 26, David Malukas, Meyer Shank Racing, 82; 27, Jack Harvey, Dale Coyne Racing, 80; 28, Tom Blomqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 46; 29, Callum Ilott, Arrow McLaren, 39; 30, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 32;
31, Toby Sowery, Dale Coyne Racing, 32; 32, Luca Ghiotto, Dale Coyne Racing, 27; 33, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing, 26; 34, Conor Daly, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Cusick Motorsports, 26; 35, Katherine Legge, Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing, 24; 36, Kyle Larson, Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren, 21; 37, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 19; 38, Tristan Vautier, Dale Coyne Racing, 12; 39, Colin Braun, Dale Coyne Racing, 10; 40, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Cusick Motorsports, 6; 41, Hunter McElrea, Dale Coyne Racing, 6; 42, Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb Agajanian, 5.
