David Malukas was second across the line in Sunday Indianapolis 500, and now has the unwanted honor of being the driver to lose the Indy 500 by the closest ever margin.
Felix Rosenqvist slid past the 24-year-old at the last second, securing victory by a mere 0.0233 seconds.
Malukas was understandably upset to have lost what he felt was surely going to be the biggest win of his life, and spent a moment shedding tears inside his helmet before facing reporters.
With determination, he attempted to push his emotions aside to describe just how hard he was pushing on the final lap to the finish.
“I just don’t know what else we could have done,” said Malukas. “We were driving 150 percent that whole race.
“The guys did a fantastic job getting the car where it needed to be. 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. Just to finish, like — I don’t know how much closer you can get to getting it.”
Multiple drivers came by to offer their support for Malukas immediately after the race, with every one giving sympathy to the young driver over what had just transpired.
Praise for his ‘family’ at Team Penske
Malukas gathered more composure as the interview went on, and he quickly pivoted to talking about how well he and his new-for-this-season team get along.
He has now earned three podiums and six top 10 finishes in seven events, and feels that he fits in better here than any of his previous teams.
“But on a high note, this team, everybody from Verizon and the whole crew and even outside the 12 crew, but the 2 car, the 3 car, everybody — I’ve been through many different teams, although I’m still young, been to so many different teams, and nobody is like Team Penske.
“Everybody here is just so closely connected and truly feels like family. Obviously coming from all of that, Roger [Penske] was one of the first guys to come to me and tell me that he believes in me and told me to keep on pushing.
“Because of him, I can sit here and cry that I’m going for a P2 position. I think that’s why it’s really emotional for me because I wanted to get a win for this team and just wanted to be written across those history books.
“Everything happens for a reason. I think there’s a reasoning to this. We’re going to just use it as more motivation and just keep pushing forward, and someday maybe it’ll happen.”
Malukas is still waiting for his first IndyCar victory, though he has been knocking at the door and was as close as one can get to taking his first on the biggest stage imaginable.
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