David Malukas got an IndyCar lifeline last year by signing with Meyer Shank Racing after having been dropped by Arrow McLaren due to an offseason injury that sidelined him for more than the season's first three races. But instead of staying put after a strong showing in the No. 66 Honda to close out the year, he moved to A.J. Foyt Enterprises.
This move was viewed by many as a stepping stone to landing at Team Penske for the 23-year-old Chicago, Illinois native. A.J. Foyt Enterprises have a technical alliance with Team Penske, and Team Penske's recent history (15 years or so) only includes the signing of drivers with proven success at other IndyCar teams or in other forms of racing under the Penske banner.
There was speculation entering the year that Roger Penske himself was funding Malukas' No. 4 Chevrolet with Foyt this year, and that speculation really ramped up in St. Petersburg when it showed up merely with "A.J. Foyt Racing" on the side.
Will Power, who entered the 2025 season without a contract, was the driver said to be on the hot seat.
In St. Petersburg, Power added fuel to the fire, albeit unintentionally, by causing a multi-car collision on the opening lap of that race. It was the only caution flag until late in race number five of the year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, ironically caused by a Malukas mechanical failure.
Now here we are in June, and Power is still without a contract for the 2026 season. Meanwhile, Malukas, save for a clumsy incident in which he took out championship leader and Indy 500 winner Alex Palou in Detroit, has been in the form of his life.
He just finished in second place in the Indy 500, notably ahead of the entire McLaren team that bailed on him unreasonably early just over a year ago, and he qualified on the front row in Detroit and was on course to finish either near or on the podium with teammate Santino Ferrucci before the Palou contact drew a slam-dunk penalty.
Power hasn't been performing poorly by any means. His only result outside of the top six since the season opener came at Indy, where another Penske scandal not only took away his opportunity to qualify in the Top 12 shootout, but sent him to last on the grid. He recovered from 33rd to finish 16th.
Power is also coming off of a season in which he won three races and added four runner-up finishes, and his fourth place finish in the championship standings was somewhat misleading; he was the only championship-eligible driver not named Palou heading into the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway before an early seatbelt issue ended his bid for title number three.
But the two-time series champion and former Indy 500 winner, who has not placed higher than 14th in the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" since 2019, is 44 years old, and Malukas is demonstrating enough skill and potential to make Team Penske, whose leadership has already been drastically shaken up as a result of the scandal, think twice about letting him get away to a rival team.
While those firings have naturally made fans question the future of Austin Cindric in the NASCAR Cup Series, given the fact that team president Tim Cindric was among those fired, the real "hot seat" is in the No. 12 Verizon-sponsored Chevrolet on the IndyCar side.
What is particularly notable is that Penske has been transparent about the Cindric ordeal. He has come right out and said that Austin has nothing to worry about, and he has a contract for 2026. Despite continued rumblings to the contrary, there is nothing that suggests any different.
Yet on Power, he has remained noncommittal. The contrast and lack of sugarcoating the reality indicates that he is truly not sure what the future holds for the Australian, and he has admitted that Power's lack of a contract for 2026 gives the team options.
Team Penske have, by their standards, struggled to start the 2025 IndyCar season, winless through seven events. Power is tied for fifth place in the championship standings, and he is actually the team's lead driver, ahead of Scott McLaughlin in eighth and Josef Newgarden in 12th (tied with Malukas).
But with every passing race weekend, it seems like his championship window has come and gone, and with Malukas continuing to take big steps forward, perhaps the series' second longest-tenured active driver will be on the move following the conclusion of the 2025 season.