Elkhart Lake, WI (Saturday, June 11, 2022) – Dale Coyne Racing with drivers Takuma Sato (#51 Nurtec ODT – Dale Coyne Racing with RWR) and David Malukas (#18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports) took part in qualifying for the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR on Saturday. The rookie qualified 14th and Sato 19th. Details for both drivers are below.

Rookie Malukas to Start from Seventh Row at Road America

Elkhart Lake, WI (Friday, June 10, 2022) – Rookie David Malukas (#18 HMD Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports) put in another strong qualifying effort on Saturday by placing himself 14th on the starting grid for tomorrow’s Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR. His fastest time was less than four hundredths of a second from putting him into the Fast 12 for the second race in a row.

Starting: 14th
Round 1 / Group 2
Best Lap: 1:45.6017

• Malukas went out in the second group in Round 1 of qualifying and immediately jumped to first place following his first timed lap.
• He then improved on his time but fell to third in his group before heading to pit lane for a fresh set of alternate Firestone tires.
• The driver of the #18 HMD car registered his fastest lap on his fifth and final lap around the 4-mile, 14-turn road course.
• His lap of 1:45.6017, which placed him seventh in his group and 14th on the grid, was only 0.0339 seconds from sending him to the Fast 12.
• Malukas is making his first start at Road America aboard an Indy car this weekend.
• He has known success at the track in the Road to Indy, picking up three wins and three poles in the different series that make up the INDYCAR ladder system.
• His most recent appearance at Road America came in 2021 where he started second and won Race 2 of the Indy Lights weekend after leading all 20 laps. 
• He also won both races from pole in the Indy Pro 2000 series in 2018, leading all laps.
• The rookie driver qualified an impressive and career best sixth in Detroit last weekend before equaling his best finish of the season with an 11th place (Detroit and Texas Motor Speedway). 

David Malukas, #18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda
“Sadly, it was another short qualifying session for me, and unfortunately it was because of a mistake on my part. The Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports team did such a great job getting the car where it needs to be for qualifying. We had a bit of work to do after the practice sessions, but they gave me a strong car for qualifying. We used the red tires for both runs because we thought we had a good chance of making the Fast 12. Unfortunately, I made a mistake on both of my runs, and we lost time that would have allowed us to get into the next round. Overall, I’m still happy being here at Road America and I know the car is very good, so hopefully we can have a good race tomorrow.”

Takuma Sato Registers a 10th Row Start at Road America

Elkhart Lake, WI (Saturday, June 11, 2022) – Takuma Sato (#51 Nurtec ODT) and his Dale Coyne Racing with RWR team will be starting from the 10th row in tomorrow’s Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America after qualifying 19th on Saturday.
 
Starting: 19th
Round 1 / Group 1:
Best Lap: 1:45.7045

• Sato, who is coming off his best start of the season last weekend at Detroit where he qualified second, went out in Group 1 of the first round of qualifying.
• He registered his fastest lap time on his second lap of the 12-minute session.
• His fastest lap of 1:45.7045 initially placed him third in his group.
• Sato was unable to improve his lap time once he switched to the alternate Firestone tires and he fell to 10th in his group.
• The two-time Indy 500 Champion is making his eighth start on the 4-mile, 14-turn road course this weekend.
• His best start and finish at the famed Elkhart Lake track came in 2018 when he qualified 7th and finished 4th.
• The Japanese driver has five top 10 finishes in seven starts at Road America.
• So far this season, Sato has a best finish of seventh at the GMR Grand Prix and a best start of second in Detroit.

Takuma Sato #51 Nurtec ODT Honda – Dale Coyne Racing with RWR
“We had a mixed day today. I think we have a good car on the primary tire but we couldn’t make the most of it on the red tires when it counted in qualifying. So unfortunately, I couldn’t get a good lap in that would have allowed us to make it to the second segment. Despite the mixed weather, we tried a couple of things in final practice, and I think the car is better. I’m more optimistic for the race now than I was after qualifying, so let’s hope we can have a great race tomorrow. It should be an interesting one.”

Race Info:
Sonsio Grand Prix of Road America Presented by AMR
Race 8 of 17
Track length: 4-mile, 14-turn permanent road course
Race Distance:  55 laps
 
Schedule (all times local)
Sunday, June 12, 2022
Race broadcast: 11:30am – 2pm (NBC, Peacock, INDYCAR LIVE!, INDYCAR Radio)
Green Flag: 11:55am