Salinas, CA (Sunday, September 10, 2023) – David Malukas (#18 HMD Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports) was having a strong run in Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, but he unfortunately was taken out of contention on Lap 58 when a competitor pushed him off track.
Started: 22nd
Finished: 20th
- Malukas gained a couple of positions on the first lap of the race.
- He was sitting 17th on the Lap 7 restart and quickly took over the 14th position before another full course caution came out.
- Malukas was running 11th when he entered pit lane on Lap 23 for his first stop of the race and had made it all the way to fourth before making his second stop on Lap 52.
- Unfortunately for the sophomore driver, he was pushed off track and into the gravel by Devlin Defrancesco in Turn 3, on Lap 58.
- Unable to get out of the gravel trap on his own power, Malukas had to wait for the AMR safety team and fell to 22nd.
- Having fallen two laps down due to the incident, Malukas could only manage to gain another couple positions to take the checkered flag in 20th place.
- Malukas ends the season with a best starting position of third (Iowa Speedway Race 2) and a best finish of third (World Wide Technology Raceway).
David Malukas, #18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda
“We had a really good race car, we were moving forward and making a lot of good moves until things started getting chaotic. We were running fourth up until our pit stop. Unfortunately, after our stop we were racing with DeFrancesco, and he made a mistake and took us out and that set us back for the rest of the race as I went two laps down. The team did a great job and gave me a good race car that could move forward in the race, and we were looking at a potentially good result. Unfortunately, things happen on the track and it’s not the way we wanted things to go. It’s a bittersweet way to end the season, but overall, with all the ups and down this season, we made a lot of memories and I want to thank everyone at Dale Coyne Racing for these last two seasons.”