Portland, OR (Saturday, September 3, 2022) – Rookie David Malukas (#18 HMD Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports) made it to the Fast 12 for the sixth time this season and placed himself 10th on the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland.
Starting: 10th
Round 1 (group 2): 4th
Best Lap: 58.0506
Round 2: 10th
Best Lap: 58.4038
- Malukas went out in Group 2 of Round 1 of qualifying and registered a fastest lap of 58.0506 seconds on his seventh timed lap of the session.
- His fast lap initially placed him second in the group, but he ended up fourth by the time the checkered flag fell on the 10-minute session.
- In Round 2, Malukas’ fastest lap of 58.4038 seconds placed him sixth when he took the checkered flag but once all drivers had completed their final lap, he had fallen to 10th, just seven hundredths of a second separating him from another trip to the Firestone Fast 6.
- Malukas is making his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES start at Portland International Raceway but he has competed at the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course in Indy Lights and Pro Mazda.
- During his last trip to Portland, he finished first and second in the Indy Lights Doubleheader weekend.
- The rookie picked up his first podium of the season at the previous round at World Wide Technology Raceway. He has a best start of fifth (Toronto).
David Malukas, #18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda
“We did make it to the second segment today, but we didn’t really have the pace that we needed to make it to the Firestone Fast 6. Yesterday in practice we were very, very quick and it seems that with the higher track temps that’s when we succeed. Once the track temps cool down, we start to struggle a little bit. We tried in Practice 2 this morning to find that time and we couldn’t really get it there, but we did find a bit and closed the gap a little. It’s not the result we wanted today in qualifying, but I think it’s all good. If a P10 is bad for us, then I think it’s all going swell.”
dalecoyneracing.com 