SALINAS, Calif — On the dawn of the final race weekend of the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, Arrow McLaren Racing announced their driver lineup for next season’s campaign. They did so 90 minutes before the final Friday practice of the year.

Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi will be returning but with Felix Rosenqvist departing to head to Meyer Shank Racing, the No. 6 seat was open. However, it wasn’t open long. McLaren announced that David Malukas has agreed upon a multi-year deal to race for the team beginning in 2024.

“I can’t wait to race in papaya next season,” Malukas said. “Arrow McLaren has been a threat to the top contenders all season long, and I’m excited to join the team and see what their Chevrolets can do. Pato and Alexander both know what it takes to win, so it will be fun racing alongside them and learning from them as well.” 

The 21-year-old American-Lithuanian driver is one of the youngest in the paddock and has shown speed and potential over his first two seasons in the series with two podium finishes for Dale Coyne Racing with HMD.  

“David is an up and comer in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, and based on what we’ve seen from him so far in his first two seasons, I’m confident there’s a lot of talent we can extract from him through the resources we have at Arrow McLaren,” said Zak Brown. “Beyond what he can do on a racetrack, he’s got a great personality and we’re excited to welcome him to the McLaren Racing family.” 

David, a multi-time karting champion, came to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES through INDY NXT, where he finished second in 2021 with a series record of 16 podiums. 

“We’ve been extremely impressed with how quickly David has gotten up to speed in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES,” said Gavin Ward, McLaren Racing Director. “At 21, he’s already one of the strongest oval racers in the field and his competitiveness on road and street courses has been steadily improving. That speed combined with an excellent attitude and work ethic makes us thrilled to have him join the team.” 

David will join Arrow McLaren drivers Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi in the team’s lineup and will race the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet for team partners NTT DATA, onsemi and SmartStop.

What To Expect

David Malukas to Arrow McLaren Racing is in my opinion going to be looked back upon and be a home run hire. Nothing against Felix Rosenqvist, but the team is essentially getting Rosenqvist 2.0.

What I mean by that is, Malukas is going to step into the ride and it shouldn’t go backwards. It should arguably stay the same as it was in 2023.

Rosenqvist sits 12th in points. Malukas is 16th. But, when broken down further, they’re pretty even. Where Rosenqvist gains on natural road courses, Malukas makes up in ovals.

In fact, Malukas scored the 8th most points (114) on ovals in 2023. Rosenqvist was 11th best (97). I can honestly see Malukas stepping right in and competing for his first career win next spring in Texas.

In two career starts on the 1.5-mile track, Malukas has finished 11th and 4th respectively. Rosenqvist won the pole in both years with this ride. Imagine putting Malukas in it.

For the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Malukas should have been the 2022 Rookie of the Year. Jimmie Johnson won it on popularity. Malukas was constantly found in the top 10 on the speed charts and was the top finishing rookie driver that year. Rosenqvist qualified this car on the front row last May. Now, you’re giving the keys to Malukas.

At Iowa, McLaren has typically been good. While they were down some this July, it’s not like they were completely off. Pato O’Ward put his car on the podium in Race 1 and if not for a late race caution, Rosenqvist was going to be runner-up in Race 2. Malukas was 12th and 8th in both races this year and 14th and 8th last year.

Again, he has a McLaren now.

Then at World Wide Technology Raceway, we know what he can do in a Coyne Honda, imagine what he can do with a McLaren Chevrolet. He has 2 podiums in 2 tries on the St. Louis area track.

Ovals will be a massive upgrade for this car in having Malukas and it’s an upgrade for Malukas in this ride over the one he’s leaving.

Then on natural road courses, he’s been quicker than some results show. Give him a McLaren? Watch out.

I can fully see this ride doing exactly what it’s done the last two years but the difference now is, Malukas is 10 years younger than Rosenqvist. There’s a longer runway of growth and improvement. I’ve maintained that this kid is a star in the making.

Now, he has a ride capable of making him one.

In his first 18 starts with McLaren, Rosenqvist had just two top 10 finishes and an average finishing spot of 16.33. Over the last 29 races, he has 18 top 10 finishes with an average finish of 12.48.

Malukas should pick up where he left off.

Is he going to be Ed Jones, Alex Palou or somewhere in between?

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McLaren An Honor

Peter Revson, Carl Williams, Johnny Rutherford, Fernando Alonso, Pato O’Ward, Oliver Askew, Helio Castroneves, Felix Rosenqvist, Kevin Magnussen, Juan Pablo Montoya, Alexander Rossi, Tony Kanaan. Now…David Malukas. That’s the list. That’s the fraternity of drivers who’ve hopped into an Indy Car, strapped in on race day and drove off with the paycheck at the end of it being signed by a McLaren boss.

While McLaren bought into Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and the historical aspect is tied to their past too, it wasn’t McLaren from 2001-2019.

McLaren is a brand. It’s a massive global entity. The best of the best walk through the doors wearing papaya. Which is why for Malukas, he’s earned this role. This is a spot that he’s very deserving to be in that fraternity of drivers to have ran an open wheel car in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES for them.

Which is when some were wondering why he’d take the risk of leaving his dads team and go off on his own, this was why. This right here. It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

It’s almost a testament to his dad that he helped build so a good young driver that a team like McLaren not only noticed what he was doing with his equipment, they wanted him to drive theirs.

Before we get to the Malukas of now, you first have to go back to the Malukas as a young kid. How did we get here to Friday’s announcement?

It started off with his parents in the Soviet Union. They left following the fall of it. They wanted to get out of communist rule so came to America looking for a brighter opportunity. While here, Henry and Daiva Malukas lived the American dream. They did so by their work ethics. Henry eventually became a truck driver, later starting his own trucking business. You may have heard of it or seen their name in the paddock over the years.

HMD.

H (Henry) M (Malukas) D (Daiva).

This trucking company has grown to an empire. Sound like another guy in the paddock? Maybe you’ve heard of Roger Penske and Penske Truck Leasing.

I’m not saying HMD isn’t going to be the next Penske, but I’m also not saying they won’t eventually be either. Their son is a talent that is good enough one day to be driving for Penske, which is why McLaren snatched him up.

Still, while truck driving, Henry developed a love for racing. He even raced some himself at places like Road America. In the midst of this, David was born. He loved watching his dad race and seeing the passion behind it. So naturally, young David fell in love too. Eventually, David would join Henry as a father-son go kart duo.

“It’s a lot,” Malukas said on his dads influence on him becoming a race car driver too. “When you’re a kid, you kind of just follow what’s been given, right. Especially when I was a six-year-old and said I want to become a racer, that doesn’t just come out of the blue. That was influence from my father. He never did anything on the serious end, but he always loved it when he was a kid. Never really had the opportunity to do anything for him with being in the Soviet Union.

“But when he came to America he obviously got himself a Corvette to go around Road America and do some club races with a couple of friends, and we both together went into go-karting and he was in DD2 and I was in Kid Karts and it was just like a nice father-and-son moment, and throughout the years we ended up just following that path, and after a few years I was obsessed. I was glued to it, and I could never leave the racing world.”

For the younger Malukas, he quickly shined. It became something he knew he wanted to do.

“I think it was when I was 12 or 13 years old when I first went over to Europe and ended up winning the X30 Le Mans World Finals,” Malukas said on when he first knew this was something he’d be good at and could make a living doing. “I remember that experience then. When I knew that, it’s like, this is very serious. Of course we’re also doing it just to have fun, but there’s definitely some moments where it’s like more on the working end, but every step of the way it’s been amazing, and yeah, still early stages — back then it felt like it was many years after and I just chose to take it seriously, but it was still early days. Yeah, it’s been a wild ride.”

Fun has grown to pressure because Henry’s passion never waned. Neither did David’s. But as David kept winning and kept getting better, he kept moving up racing ranks. Henry gave up racing and decided to help fund this budding career. They went USF2000 racing in 2017. Then Indy Pro 2000 in 2018. Then 2019 up to Indy Lights.

This was getting serious now. 2020 was a COVID year but the Malukas’ were back in 2021. He had 7 wins, 16 podiums and 6 pole positions that season.

Might as well jump up to the next step, right?

That’s where we are now. HMD teamed with fellow Illinois based team Dale Coyne Racing and off they went for the 2022 season. They came back in 2023. The problem is, the growth last year was stunted by some pains this year.

The team is holding him back. The cars aren’t as reliable as he’d have hoped and losing a veteran presence of Takuma Sato hurt.

Malukas knew if he wanted to be something in this series, he had to branch out in 2024. However, in order to do so, he had to come out of the shadow of the Malukas or HMD name. McLaren wanted to give him this opportunity.

Which is why as frustrating as 2023 has been, it’s not like Coyne or HMD should hang their heads over losing Malukas. It’s an honor to help produce another quality talent.

Ed Jones had 5 top 10 finishes in his rookie season with Coyne in 2017. One of which was a 3rd place run in the Indy 500. That got him a seat at Chip Ganassi Racing for 2018. Alex Palou had 3 top 10’s in 2020 for Coyne. He’s about to win his 2nd championship in 3 years with Ganassi.

To promote drivers to bigger teams is a testament that Coyne is doing something right. Is Malukas going to be Ed Jones, Alex Palou or somewhere in between?

That’s the next step…

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McLaren Set For The Future

With Lando Norris shining and Oscar Piastri finding his footing as a rookie, the McLaren F1 team has a bright future. Norris is just 23. Piastri is only 22. If McLaren can keep the vulchers like Red Bull, Mercedes or Ferrari away from Norris, they’re set up for the future overseas.

Here stateside, they have Alexander Rossi locked in. He’s about to be 32. He has no interest in heading back to F1 so he’s set. Pato O’Ward is only 24. Even if the F1 dream never comes to fruition, I don’t think it’s a secret that he’s on the verge of being a star here.

Now you get 21-year-old David Malukas. So long as these three perform and the cars keep getting more and more better, this NTT INDYCAR SERIES program has a 5-10 year runway ahead of strength.

Plus, I’ve heard about an alliance with Juncos Hollinger Racing coming and how high they are on Callum Ilott. This can get him too. Ilott is going to only be 25 in November.

Which means they’re set up for the now and the future. If the F1 side does so well it gets 1 or even both of Norris and Piastri taken elsewhere, O’Ward, Ilott and Malukas are easy targets to replace them. If they replace them, it means they did well here. If they did well here, they have quality rides other young stars will want to come to.

Which is why this pipeline is strengthening and a much better scenario than the Alex Palou drama. This could be a blessing in disguise for them.