IndyCar rookies bring strong resumes, loads of promise
By Joe Capraro
IndyCar 2022 rookies: No. 4 – David Malukas
David Malukas will be the youngest driver in the IndyCar field this season, two months younger than Christian Lundgaard. But he brings a record of excellence in lower-tier open-wheel championships.
The 20-year-old Lithuanian-American finished in second place in the 2021 Indy Lights standings and sixth in 2019, sandwiched around a second place finish in the Formula Regional Americas championship in 2020 when Indy Lights was canceled.
Malukas has the advantage over his fellow IndyCar rookies in regard to course familiarity, having run on more than half of this year’s tracks at some point in the last three years.
He’ll also have the wisdom of teammate and two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Takuma Sato to add to the confidence that should come from his seven wins and 16 podium finishes in 20 Indy Lights races last year.
Sato and Malukas are both new to Dale Coyne Racing this year, with Ed Jones leaving for IMSA, Romain Grosjean moving to Andretti Autosport, and the additional part-time entry being mothballed for this season.
Going from five drivers in three cars to two of each may benefit one of the smaller teams in IndyCar, but Grosjean provided nearly all the team’s highlights in 2021 and he has left for Andretti Autosport. It will be interesting to see the on-track and off-track contrasts between Malukas and Sato, who made his Formula 1 debut the year after Malukas was born.