Another year, another runner-up, another resilient showing from Malukas at the Indy 500
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">By Noah Poser, Staff Writer</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In an alternate timeline, David Malukas is celebrating both his first Indianapolis 500 win and his first INDYCAR victory, the product of a last-lap pass on Marcus Armstrong that would be replayed for years to come.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But that isn’t this timeline. And Malukas isn’t an Indy 500 champion.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Instead, the Chicago native found himself on the wrong side of history when Felix Rosenqvist slipped past him just feet from the start-finish line, crossing the yard of bricks 0.0233 seconds ahead – the smallest margin of victory in the race’s 110 runnings.</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">THE CLOSEST FINISH IN INDIANAPOLIS 500 HISTORY!<br><br>IT'S FELIX ROSENQVIST! <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/17.0.2/72x72/1f3c1.png" alt="🏁" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> <a href="https://t.co/exA3UpH81b">pic.twitter.com/exA3UpH81b</a></p>— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) <a href="https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/2058643819046801828?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">May 24, 2026</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I don’t think there’s really anything I could have done,” a crestfallen Malukas said in his postrace press conference. “Maybe I could have shortened (the gap) by a couple thousandths, but I think that was the IMS gods telling me it’s not my time.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">For Malukas, who finished runner-up in the Indy 500 for the second straight year, it increasingly feels like a matter of when, not if. But as Scott Dixon said earlier this week, “This place doesn’t owe me anything.” The same applies to Malukas, no matter how cruel that may be.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Sunday’s finish, as much as it will be remembered for its drama and for Rosenqvist’s charge from third to first on the final lap, was another cruel twist in a career already full of them for Malukas.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">And yet, in a moment that would cause most people to spiral, the 24-year-old once again showed the resiliency that has carried him to this point after being dropped by Arrow McLaren and left questioning his future in the sport two years ago. He admitted he sat alone in his car after the race, replaying the finish, before forcing himself to climb out.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I told myself I need to get out of here before I keep overthinking and making things so much worse,” Malukas said. “It was a good decision to get out and see everybody and let the emotions out. Because in the car it was not good thoughts.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Heartbreak still sat plainly on his face through his TV interviews and the press conference that followed. But Malukas answered every question.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://kickinthetires.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC4262-1024x683.jpg" alt="David Malukas faces reporters fresh off a heartbreaking second-place finish in the Indy 500 on Sunday." class="wp-image-48106" title="Another year, another runner-up, another resilient showing from Malukas at the Indy 500 1" srcset="https://kickinthetires.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC4262-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://kickinthetires.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC4262-300x200.jpg 300w, https://kickinthetires.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC4262-768x512.jpg 768w, https://kickinthetires.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC4262-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://kickinthetires.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC4262-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://kickinthetires.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC4262-150x100.jpg 150w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">David Malukas faces reporters fresh off a heartbreaking second-place finish in the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. Photo Credit- Austin Lawton</figcaption></figure>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Everybody here in this room has hardships,” he said. “They’re the ones you remember. Obviously you remember the really good times, but when I was a kid in elementary school, middle school, I remember all the bad things I did.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“So you don’t repeat them. You learn from them. And you make yourself better. It makes you who you are. That’s something that truly envelopes who I am.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">When it comes to hardships at Indy, few know them better than his Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin, who redeemed himself after last year’s crash on the pace laps with <a href="https://www.indycar.com/results/ntt-indycar-series/2026/110th-running-of-the-indianapolis-500/race" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a third-place finish Sunday</a>.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“It’s Christmas, but not everyone gets a present,” McLaughlin said. “And that’s the worst part about it. That’s what my mom said. And that’s a good way to look at it, but at the same time, everyone here that doesn’t finish first despises today and it is what it is.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“But you just have to take the learnings, whatever it is. Whether you crashed last year or you finished where you finished today – what could you have done differently, what could you have done better, what could you have not done, what was out of your control? And just come back stronger.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Come back stronger. That’s what Malukas has done his entire career, and that’s what he plans to do now.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“In 2024, coming back from the wrist injury, that was a big hardship for me,” Malukas said. “Trying to overcome that and come back into the field and perform with one and a half hands. Having all these hardships builds character, and for me it just gives me more motivation, more obsession to go out there and have my dreams come true.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“We’re getting close, so I will not be able to die at rest until we can go and get a win.”</p>
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