David Malukas took a bold step this offseason, joining AJ Foyt Racing—a team steeped in motorsport legend A.J. Foyt’s legacy. For the 23-year-old, it’s a chance to race for a name that echoes through racing history, a pull he couldn’t resist.
“Each conversation has been amazing,” he said. “Obviously, for me it was a little bit hard because I’m going into it as like it’s A.J. and you’re trying to have a normal conversation, but the entire time it’s like I’m talking with A.J., so I’m kind of trying to act normal. But he was very chill. It almost felt like we were good friends, and he started talking about the stories and the past and the history. To say that he’s had me on the team meant a lot, too. The conversations we’ve had have been great, so I just hope to give him some results in return.”
Malukas brings a career-best second-place finish from his three NTT INDYCAR SERIES seasons with Dale Coyne Racing and Meyer Shank Racing. Now piloting the No. 4 Chevrolet, he’s poised to flex his talent and bolster Foyt’s resurgence—two races into 2025, with the season-opener Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (March 2) and The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix (March 23) in the books.
Teammate Dynamics: A Tale of Two Styles
Consistency is the name of the game, and Malukas is syncing with a squad learning his quirks as much as he’s learning theirs. Car setups in INDYCAR are a dance of engineering precision and driver gut—part science, part feel. Teams aim for a baseline that bends to track conditions, but it’s the driver’s input that fine-tunes the machine. One might crave a twitchy rear for aggressive slides; another demands stability to hug the line.
Enter Santino Ferrucci, Malukas’ teammate, with two stout years at Foyt. Ferrucci’s 2024 haul—11 top-10s, a ninth-place championship finish, and a Portland pole—set a team high-water mark not seen in over 20 years. His setup? A wild card.
“It’s very different,” Malukas said of Ferrucci’s car setup. “He really wants it to be the rear end sliding everywhere, and it’s not easy.”
Malukas’ 2025 results reflect the adjustment. At St. Pete, he stormed from 17th to 13th—a gritty charge. At Thermal, he qualified 12th but faded to 18th, hampered by a setup still leaning on Ferrucci’s blueprint. After two rounds, Ferrucci sits 17th in points (37), Malukas 18th (34)—a three-point gap.
“We’re just working off of Santino’s setup and working from that baseline into something that we like,” Malukas said. “So, hopefully eventually we can get to the point where, ‘OK, let’s unload the data.’ I think we’re getting already so much closer.”
Building the Car: Data and Driver Feel
Ferrucci’s style—loose, slide-happy—clashes with Malukas’ need for control, but that’s gold for engineers. Diverse driver preferences widen the data pool, letting Foyt’s crew—led by James Schnabel for Malukas, Michael Armbrester for Ferrucci—tweak the No. 4 and No. 14 Chevrolets across conditions. Last week’s private test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course (March 27) was a data grab—Malukas probing setups, the team logging every lap.
Next up: Long Beach (April 11-13), Barber Motorsports Park (May 2-4), and the Indy 500 Open Test (April). By May’s 109th Indianapolis 500 (May 26), Malukas expects a car dialed to his taste—especially on the IMS oval, where his oval prowess (that 2022 Gateway second) could shine.
“I’m excited to go out there and perform and forget this injury ever – well, it’s not perfectly back, but it’s a lot better, so I’m really excited,” he said.
That injury—torn wrist ligaments from a February 2024 mountain bike crash—derailed his Arrow McLaren stint before it began, sidelining him for 2024’s first seven races. Released in April, he joined Meyer Shank Racing midseason, then landed at Foyt. Last May, he watched Indy from the sidelines, aiding INDYCAR’s content team—now, he’s back in the cockpit.
Foyt’s Resurgence: A Team on the Rise
Foyt’s no stranger to glory—four Indy 500 wins as a driver—but recent decades thinned the trophy case. Ferrucci’s 2024 surge, paired with a Team Penske technical alliance, flipped the script. Three Penske-Foyt drivers cracked Indy’s top eight last year; Ferrucci’s pole was Foyt’s first since 2014. Malukas adds fuel—his two 2024 top-10s with Meyer Shank hint at untapped pace.
What’s Next
Long Beach looms—1.968 miles of tight streets, a contrast to Thermal’s open desert sweep. Malukas’ St. Pete climb shows he can hustle; syncing the car could unlock more. With Ferrucci one spot ahead, the intra-team tussle’s heating up—data from IMS and beyond will tell if Malukas’ tweaks stick. For now, it’s a team and driver in sync, chasing consistency—and results—to repay A.J.’s faith.
