After finishing second in Sunday’s second IndyCar race from the Milwaukee Mile, David Malukas uncharacteristically placed blame on Chevy for his lost win.
Malukas had been leading for much of the race, but a late-race restart saw his engine bog down momentarily and Pato O’Ward was able to storm past for the win.
Speaking to IndyCar Radio after the event, the 24-year-old let his emotions show through as he harshly criticized Chevy for costing him what looked like it could be his first victory.
“Race 1, race 2, Chevy just let us down,” said Malukas. “Plenum events every time I leave pit lane, I gotta be lifting. First gear, second gear, I mean it’s ridiculous.
“The team, they did such a good job. That car was unreal. It was already so good in race 1, and then they worked on it and got where it needed to be for this race.
“We were so fast, faster than the rest. And just got let down on that restart.
“I don’t want to go into details. We just got let down today. We should have won that. We’re just cursed.”
Rethinking comments
Typically, drivers are much more careful about how they speak about the companies and teams that support their efforts, and are coached to stop short of publicly assigning direct blame.
His criticism seemingly has at least a small amount of merit, however, as Malukas has suffered multiple engine-related issues this season leading up to the Milwaukee races.
He also has more than his fair share of overall frustration stemming from the fact that he has finished in second place six times and has yet to record a victory, which is tied for the second most in IndyCar history.
A day later on Monday, Malukas cooled his emotions and posted an apology on social media for his words the day before.
“Welp, not proud with what I said yesterday,” read the post. “It was childish and speaking out of frustration.
“Chevy has done great things for me this year and I wouldn’t be getting the results I have been without them. I apologize for what was said, immature from me.”
Malukas currently sits fifth in the points, having dropped behind Pato O’Ward on account of the Arrow McLaren driver’s double-victories in Milwaukee.
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