Paddock Buzz: Near-Miss Leaves David Malukas Heartbroken

David Malukas came within yards of immortality in front of a sold-out crowd Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Instead, he was left with heartbreak.

Malukas (photo, top) led entering the final straightaway of the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 before Felix Rosenqvist drafted past him just before the Yard of Bricks. Rosenqvist beat Malukas by .0233 of a second, the closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history.

Team Penske driver Malukas, who was inches from his first career series victory in his 68th career start, was left in disbelief.

“I just don't know what else we could have done,” Malukas said.

The runner-up finish continued a cruel trend at Indianapolis for the Chicago native. Last year, Malukas crossed the finish line third driving for AJ Foyt Racing before moving to second after Marcus Ericsson was penalized post-race. This year, his first season with Team Penske, the result felt even harder to accept after leading so late in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

Malukas made his final pit stop with 25 laps remaining in the 200-lap race. While several contenders, including Rosenqvist, Pato O'Ward and Marcus Armstrong, stretched fuel to the finish, Malukas charged forward on fresher tires and full aggression in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

With 18 laps remaining, he was 23 seconds behind the leaders in eighth place. Then the race changed.

A crash by Caio Collet with eight laps to go erased the gap and gave Malukas, who was fourth, one final opportunity. He sliced through traffic after the Lap 196 restart, passed Armstrong for the lead and appeared poised to deliver both himself and Team Penske one of the most dramatic Indianapolis 500 victories in recent memory.

That was the record breaking 69th lead change – 2013 had the previous record of 68.

Another caution, this time for Mick Schumacher brushing the Turn 2 wall, forced a one-lap showdown. Malukas took the lead from Marcus Armstrong at the green flag on Lap 199 but could not defend Rosenqvist’s draft in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda for Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian, and the Swede made the 70th and final lead change of the day in front of a raucous, sold-out crowd.

“We were driving 150 percent that whole race,” Malukas said after leading 30 laps. “We had the fastest car out there that whole race. It was ours to win, and I knew that. I've never pushed that hard in my whole life.”

Penske Crew Offers Advice for Malukas

Malukas’ near-miss is something Team Penske personnel know they must help him process entering this week.

This was not just another second-place finish. This was Indianapolis.

Ben Bretzman, Team Penske’s engineering manager of competition, believes the team must keep Malukas focused on the positives before next Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear.

Malukas sits a career-best second in points, 37 behind three-time defending series champion Alex Palou.

“He's young, he can recover pretty well,” Bretzman said. “He's definitely way more headstrong than I imagined, and I think he'll bounce back even stronger.

“This is two years in a row he's finished second now. Running with those high-quality drivers matters. He's learning every time he's out there. Keep learning, keep progressing and the speed will come.”

Team Penske president Jonathan Diuguid sat stunned on the pit wall after the finish. Malukas sat quietly on the opposite side pit wall across the track in disbelief.

“He's been doing everything he needs to do all year,” Diuguid said. “We came up a little short today, but he's going to win a race here.

“That’s the Indy 500. That’s all you can say.”

Malukas has six consecutive top-seven finishes in eight starts this season, including a runner-up in both races at Indianapolis when factoring in the May 9 Sonsio Grand Prix on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn IMS road course.

Teammate Scott McLaughlin compared the disappointment of losing the Indy 500 to Christmas morning without a present.

“Everyone here that finishes not first despises today,” McLaughlin said. “You’ve got to take the learnings and come back stronger. Personally, I don’t think David had much fight back there. Felix was going to get a run regardless. If the pace is faster, maybe David squeezes one home. But it was off a restart.”

Palou finished seventh in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda after starting from pole and leading a race-high 59 laps while chasing a second consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory.

McLaughlin Charges to Third

McLaughlin (photo, above) sat 10th on pit road during the red flag with eight laps remaining.

He knew the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet lacked the pace to challenge Malukas or Palou outright, but he attacked on the restart.

McLaughlin gained four spots before Schumacher’s caution. On the final-lap dash, he followed Malukas, Rosenqvist, Armstrong and O’Ward before charging to the outside in a three-wide sprint to the finish. He finished third, his best Indianapolis 500 result in six starts.

“Just had to make it happen on restarts,” McLaughlin said. “I didn't really care if I crashed. I just wanted to go. It’s the Indy 500.”

Castroneves Passes Foyt In Laps Completed

Helio Castroneves delivered Meyer Shank Racing its first INDYCAR SERIES win in 2021 when he joined the four-time winners club.

Now a co-owner at MSR while continuing his Indianapolis 500-only driving role in the No. 06 Cleveland-Cliffs Honda, Castroneves started 14th and finished 25th after a mechanical issue with six laps remaining.

Still, he watched Rosenqvist win and MSR teammate Armstrong finish fifth in the No. 66 Acura Honda.

“That was absolutely incredible,” Castroneves said. “The feelings are mixed. I'm happy for the team, but, man, I wanted to be there battling.”

Castroneves also passed Foyt for the most laps completed in Indianapolis 500 history. He has completed 4,992 laps in 26 starts while Foyt completed 4,909 in 35 starts.

He also matched Foyt with an Indianapolis 500 victory as a team owner. Foyt won as an owner with Kenny Bräck in 1999 while Castroneves now has one with Rosenqvist. Both winning drivers were Swedish.

“I still don't feel like A.J.,” Castroneves said. “He's still the best of the best. I'm just honored to be part of that. Those four wins I did, didn't come by luck.”

Will he return for a shot at No. 5?

“We’ll see,” Castroneves said.

VeeKay Finishes Sixth

Rinus VeeKay started 11th in the No. 76 Wedbush-JHR-DRR Chevrolet for Juncos Hollinger Racing and finished sixth after a dramatic afternoon. Both were “500” bests for the team.

VeeKay (photo, above, center) stayed out during the opening caution for Ryan Hunter-Reay and Katherine Legge’s Lap 18 crash and inherited the lead when the leaders pitted on Lap 20.

The strategy backfired when he needed to pit during the next caution after Ed Carpenter crashed on the Lap 26 restart, dropping him to 25th.

VeeKay rallied back to sixth for his best Indianapolis 500 finish and third top-10 in his last four starts.

“This was a roller coaster,” VeeKay said. “We had an unfortunate strategy call early, but we maximized this race. I would have been happier if I won, for sure, but I’m very satisfied with our fight.”

Legge, Hunter-Reay Trigger First Caution

Hunter-Reay lost control of the No. 31 PrizePicks Arrow McLaren Chevrolet in Turn 2 on Lap 17, bringing out the race’s first caution. He finished 32nd, tying his worst Indianapolis 500 result from 2009 when he crashed on Lap 19.

Legge (photo, above) took evasive action in the No. 11 e.l.f. Cosmetics Chevrolet for HMD Motorsports with AJ Foyt Racing but slammed the inside wall while avoiding Hunter-Reay. She finished 33rd.

“It was super tough,” Hunter-Reay said. “The whole time I was trying to keep it off the wall. Finally one of those wiggles turned into one that didn’t come back.”

Legge’s Indianapolis 500/Coca-Cola 600 (NASCAR Cup Series race in Charlotte) double attempt ended sooner than expected.

She was the sixth driver to attempt the double, joining John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson, but the first female.

“I was back there saving fuel, and he spun,” Legge said. “I tried to go low and I just didn't make it.”

The last two double attempts also ended in crashes. Kyle Larson crashed on Lap 91 last year while driving the same Arrow McLaren entry now driven by Hunter-Reay.

Dixon, Dallara Enter IMS Hall of Fame

Scott Dixon and Giampaolo Dallara were inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame during Thursday night’s ceremony at the Indiana Roof Ballroom.

Tony George inducted Dallara, praising the constructor’s commitment to safety and innovation since becoming INDYCAR’s exclusive chassis supplier in 2008.

Chip Ganassi inducted Dixon, highlighting the six-time champion’s consistency and excellence throughout their 25-year partnership.

Dixon has made 24 Indianapolis 500 starts with one victory in 2008 and a race-record 709 laps led, 32 of which coming Sunday in his 15th place finish in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Jim and Joan Voyles received the 2026 Sexton Award for Distinguished Service for their longtime support of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.

Odds And Ends

• Two-time Brickyard 400 winner and two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch was honored during Indianapolis 500 festivities after passing away Thursday at age 41 due to complications from sepsis following pneumonia. Indianapolis Motor Speedway honored Busch on Lap 18 with a graphic on the Scoring Pylon, and teams throughout the paddock displayed memorial decals.

• Romain Grosjean’s No. 18 Bmax.IO Honda for Dale Coyne Racing and Kyffin Simpson’s No. 8 Sunoco Chip Ganassi Racing Honda both featured Busch tributes. Grosjean’s numbers on his car mimicked Busch’s No. 18 he drove for 14 seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing while Simpson’s pit board had the No. 8 font for Richard Childress Racing that Busch drove the last three seasons.

• O’Ward finished fourth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet for his sixth top-six finish in seven Indianapolis 500 starts. “We were in position, but I was a sitting duck,” O’Ward said. “We had excessive brake drag. It’s impossible to get runs on people.”

• Josef Newgarden entered last year’s race seeking a third straight Indianapolis 500 victory but finished 22nd after entering the pits sixth on Lap 135 but retired due to a fuel pump issue. Sunday, he finished 28th after crashing on the Lap 124 restart. “We were going for it,” Newgarden said. “The car was starting to come to us. Just hate that we couldn’t finish it off.”

• Sunday marked Honda’s 17th Indianapolis 500 victory, second-most all-time behind Offenhauser’s 27.

• Sebastian Wheldon, son of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon, earned his first Formula Regional European Championship victory this weekend at Zandvoort while driving for MP Motorsport. He also won the second race of the doubleheader Sunday.

• Marco Andretti returned to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend for the first time since 2005 without competing in the race. Andretti admitted the experience changed once the field took the green flag but said he enjoys being his “own boss” while supporting friends in the paddock.