Detroit, MI (Sunday, June 5, 2022) – Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports rookie David Malukas tied his best finish of the season on Sunday by placing 11th in the Detroit Grand Prix after also starting a season best.
Started: 6th
Finished: 11th
- Malukas started the race in sixth place after an impressive run in qualifying on Saturday, making his first trip to the Firestone Fast Six.
- The rookie elected to start the race on the alternate Firestone tire and headed to pit lane on Lap 6 to switch to the primary tire.
- While he fell to 20th following his stop, he made his way back up the field and was sitting seventh before he returned to pit lane on Lap 26.
- The rookie made it as high as fifth before making his final stop on Lap 46.
- He registered the fastest lap of the race on Lap 52 with a time of 1:16.4034.
- His 11th place finish was his best finish on a road or street course this season. It tied his previous best finish of 11th at Texas Motor Speedway.
David Malukas – #18 HMD Honda – Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports
“It was an unexpected race. We were expecting the red tires to last longer than they did. Thankfully we made the early call to pit and switch to the primary tire. From that point on I had Rinus Veekay just kind of towing me around the rest of the stint. On my last stint, I tried really hard to get around Rosenqvist but couldn’t get it done, it’s always tough on a street course to pass. We managed to get the fastest lap near the end of the race. It destroyed the tires a little bit, but it was worth it! I’m quite happy with our result. It kind of stings when you start P6 and finish 11th you usually want to move up, not go backwards. But being a rookie, I’m happy to finish the race and to be the highest finishing rookie.”