Lexington, OH (Sunday, July 2, 2023) – David Malukas (#18 HMD Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports) picked up his best road course finish of the season on Sunday with a great run from 12th to sixth in Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.
Started: 12th
Finished: 6th
- Malukas picked up four spots on the first lap of the 80-lap event.
- He battled with Scott McLaughlin for the first part of the race before entering pit lane from eighth on Lap 26 for his first stop.
- The sophomore driver continued to push throughout his second stint and once again found himself in eighth before making his second stop on Lap 53.
- Once the second round of pit stops were complete, the much-improved pit crew led by Renato Lepore gained a position for Malukas on the pit sequence moving him into sixth place once everyone had completed their second stops.
- Malukas maintained competitive lap times to keep his closest rival at bay and take home his best road/street course finish of the season with a sixth place.
- Today’s finish was also his best NTT INDYCAR SERIES finish at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
- So far this season, the #18 HMD driver has a best starting position of ninth and a best finish of fourth (both at Texas Motor Speedway).
- Next up: The Honda Indy Toronto, July 14 to 16 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
David Malukas, #18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda
“That was one of the most exhausting races for me. I came in and could barely get out of the car. I was constantly pushing throughout that entire run. It was a near perfect run for us to come from 12th to sixth with every guy in front of us having a lot of speed. We timed everything beautifully, from strategy to using the push to pass to set up. I’m just so proud of Dale Coyne Racing with HMD. We’ve kind of finally rebounded. We had found pace at Road America but here we were able to put it all together. We had our first Fast 12 of the season yesterday and we took advantage of it and came out with a P6.”