David Malukas will drive for A J Foyt Racing during the 2025 IndyCar season and has explained why he decided to join the team.
The American has endured a mentally challenging campaign so far after he got injured in pre-season, which eventually led to Malukas being dropped by Arrow McLaren.
He returned to the paddock in the eighth round of the season, driving for Meyer Shank Racing at Laguna Seca in California.
Malukas has since performed consistently in IndyCar as he gets back up to full fitness, scoring a sixth-place finish on the streets of Toronto.
A J Foyt’s prowess on ovals was a key factor behind David Malukas joining
A J Foyt Racing have been incredibly fast on ovals, particularly with Santino Ferrucci in recent times at the Indy 500.
He showed blistering raw speed in qualifying for the 108th Running of the Indy 500, setting a four-lap average speed good enough for P8 on the grid.
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The American finished in eighth place at The Brickyard, a result which came after he was near the front of the field some of the 200 laps.
Ferrucci is still yet to secure his seat on the IndyCar grid for next season, though, while Malukas has now signed a multi-year contract with A J Foyt.
Malukas admits that A J Foyt Racing were not his only choice for 2025, but the team’s upward trend – especially on ovals – made them an appealing prospect.
He told The Race’s IndyCar podcast: “There were definitely multiple options going through it.
“But in the end, just looking through these past few seasons and how Foyt have been changing and getting really good results, even before they’ve done the Penske alliance, they were getting those results, and mainly ovals, and most specifically the Indy 500, they have been incredibly strong there.
“In the IndyCar Series, that is very important. Thoughts going into it, that was obviously a very big deal factor for me. Just looking at everything and seeing where the future is going, I just ended up making that decision.”
David Malukas finds the chance to lead the team appealing
Malukas spent two full seasons at Meyer Shank Racing after making his debut in 2022 and he performed admirably, taking his first podium at Gateway that year after finishing in second place.
He also had the chance to learn from Takuma Sato, the former Formula 1 driver who led the team throughout the year, during Malukas’ first season in IndyCar.
The second half of the 2024 season has been similar, as Malukas has had the more experienced Felix Rosenqvist alongside him.
Now, the American will take on a leadership role when Malukas joins A J Foyt next year and the respect the team showed him was key to him joining.
Malukas added: “When we first started talking, that was one of the main factors. They were heavily interested in me, they believed in me [and] they wanted me.”