Hard Fought Battles for Malukas and Sato at the Gallagher Grand Prix

INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, July 30, 2022) – Dale Coyne Racing and drivers David Malukas (#18 HMD) and Takuma Sato took part in the Gallagher Grand Prix on Saturday finishing 13th and 15th respectively. Details on both drivers’ races are below.

Malukas Takes Checkered Flag in 13th at Gallagher Grand Prix

INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, July 30, 2022) – Rookie David Malukas (#18 HMD Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports) had another strong race on Saturday aboard his #18 HMD Honda however the final result wasn’t indicative of his performance.

Started: 11th
Finished: 13th

• Malukas had to avoid getting punted in the opening laps of the 85-lap event and fell to 18th from his 11th place on the starting grid.
• The rookie then opted to pit on Lap 10 and switch to the alternate Firestone tire. 
• •He returned to pit lane on Lap 35, just before a full course caution came out on Lap 36.
• He was running 18th when the race returned to green on Lap 40
• The rookie was 16th by the time he made his final stop on Lap 60. 
• He was 16th once all cars cycled through their final stops and he then fought his way back to take the checkered flag in 13th place.
• Malukas’ best finish this season came last weekend in Race 2 at Iowa Speedway where he finished eighth. He has a best start of fifth on the streets of Toronto.

David Malukas, #18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda
“Sadly, this weekend was just unfortunate event after unfortunate event. In practice and qualifying we had some issues and now in the race we got punted in the early laps and that set us back. Then we had some unlucky yellows. We just can’t seem to get luck the whole way through a race. We fell back to 18th at one point and we worked our way back up to 13th so at the end of the day it isn’t too bad considering where we started. I think we could have been moving forward early on, I think we had a much better car than what our result is showing.”

Takuma Sato Qualifies on Ninth Row for Gallagher Grand Prix

INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, July 30, 2022) – Takuma Sato (#51 Deloitte) and his Dale Coyne Racing with RWR team finished the Gallagher Grand Prix in 15th place on Saturday.

Started: 18th
Finished: 15th

• Sato’s team opted to pit under the first caution period on Lap 4, and hope for more yellows further into the race that would give them an advantage.
• Once all cars had made their first stops, Sato found himself in sixth place.
• He was running fifth when he entered pit lane for his second stop on Lap 31.
• Following his stop, he was running ninth when another full course caution came out on Lap 37. 
• The caution reset the field as everyone now had one more stop to go.
• Sato had fallen to 13th by the time he made his final stop on Lap 59.
• He crossed the finish line in 15th.
• In 13 races this season, Sato has a best finish of seventh scored at the IMS road course earlier this year during the GMR Grand Prix and he has an overall best starting position of second on the streets of Detroit this year.

Takuma Sato #51 Nurtec ODT Honda – Dale Coyne Racing with RWR
“P15 today, probably not deserved, but we had to try. We decided to pit under the first yellow which we knew was really short for that stint and that it would be a sacrifice for the rest of the race. We were hoping to get another couple yellows and it didn’t turn out that way. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get a better result. We tried, it was important to keep pushing and hopefully we get a better result in Nashville next weekend.”

Next Up:
Big Machine Music City Grand Prix
Race 14 of 17
August 7th, 2022
Race Broadcast: 3pm ET on NBC