IndyCar: 5 possible replacements for Jimmie Johnson in 2023
By Asher Fair
Possible Jimmie Johnson replacements for 2023: No. 4 – David Malukas
Aside from whoever voted for Jimmie Johnson as Indy 500 Rookie of the Year, David Malukas impressed pretty much everybody in the IndyCar world throughout his rookie season.
It was a struggle overall for Dale Coyne Racing in 2022, and yet Malukas finished three positions ahead of veteran and two-time Indy 500-winning teammate Takuma Sato in the championship standings.
He probably should have had at least five or six top 10 finishes instead of just three, but unfortunately things didn’t always go his way. Just look at Nashville, where he had a legitimate chance to stand on the podium before contact with fellow rookie Kyle Kirkwood knocked him out of the race.
The 21-year-old Lithuanian-American driver still found himself in the mix to win Rookie of the Year, finishing just 18 points behind Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard.
He has been fast at all types of race tracks, making three Firestone Fast Six qualifying appearances on street courses and also qualifying in the top six at Iowa Speedway, where he secured what was then a career-best eighth place finish.
While many were shocked to see him toward the top of the Indy 500 speed charts throughout the month of May, an impressive 11th place effort in his superspeedway debut at Texas Motor Speedway proved he belonged.
He added to his oval success with a career-best second place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, and he secured eighth in the final oval standings behind drivers from only three organizations: Arrow McLaren SP, Chip Ganassi Racing, and Team Penske.
The Indy 500’s highest finishing rookie is reportedly on a long-term deal with Dale Coyne Racing with HMD, and it stands to reason, as HMD Trucking is owned by his father Henry. However, him ending up elsewhere for 2023 might still not be as far-fetched as it seems. He even admitted that there are other possibilities which are “hush hush”.
With HMD keen to place Indy Lights champion Linus Lundqvist in IndyCar next year but not enough engines for Dale Coyne Racing to expand from two to three cars, don’t assume that they would be opposed to loaning out Malukas to a championship-caliber race team in Chip Ganassi Racing.
It appears to be only a matter of time before he gets a top IndyCar ride anyway. Could it come sooner rather than later?