Fort Worth, Texas (Saturday, April 1, 2023) – David Malukas (#18 HMD Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports) qualified a season best of ninth on Saturday for tomorrow’s PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway, the first NTT INDYCAR SERIES oval race of the season.
Starting: 9th
Two lap average: 219.256 mph
- Malukas was the 19th driver to take to the track during qualifying.
- He registered a first lap of 219.558 mph and a second lap of 218.955 mph for a two-lap average of 219.256 mph.
- His speed initially placed him fourth on the provisional grid.
- This weekend marks, Malukas’ second start at Texas Motor Speedway.
- In 2022, he started 19th and finished 11th in his NTT INDYCAR SERIES oval debut.
- The PPG 375 goes green at 11:15am local time (12:15pm ET) on Sunday, April 2, 2023.
David Malukas, #18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda
“Today went well for us. It was the top three big teams with McLaren, Ganassi, Penske and then us in P9. So, we’re really happy with that. I think that was near ultimate performance of what we could get out of the car for qualifying. And it was really good. We tested the high line a little bit, it was a little bit sketchy for us initially, but we managed to make some changes and we got there. In final practice, we did a lot of racing with other drivers. Overall I think we’re missing just that little bit from the other top eight in front of us on the grid but I think we’re right there where we need to be for the race tomorrow. I think it will be a good race. If we keep everything underneath us, not lose our car and not do anything super risky, we should have a top ten here, but of course you never know. There’s always a chance for anything in this race.”