David Malukas to Start Fifth in Nashville

Nashville, TN (Saturday, August 4, 2023) – Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports driver David Malukas scored his best road/street course qualifying of the season today by placing fifth on the starting grid for tomorrow’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix. His teammate Sting Ray Robb in the Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Goodheart/Biohaven entry qualified 24th. Details for both drivers are below.

David Malukas to Start Fifth in Nashville

Nashville, TN (Saturday, August 4, 2023) – David Malukas (#18 HMD Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports) advanced to the Firestone Fast Six for the first time this season and registered his best road/street course starting position of the year today by qualifying fifth for tomorrow’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.

Starting: 5th

• Malukas took to the track in Group 1 of qualifying and recovered from a penalty for causing a local yellow while impeding another driver to register the third fastest lap of his group with a lap of 1:15.7943.
• In the Fast 12 for the second time this season, the sophomore driver put in a best lap of 1:15.0519 on his fifth timed lap of the 10-minute session.
• With a red flag coming out with less than 20 seconds remaining, each competitor was allowed one timed lap and a last chance for a shot at the Firestone Fast 6.
• Sitting in sixth position at the time of the red flag, Malukas and the team elected to remain in pit lane, as did others. With no one close to improving on their lap times, Malukas advanced to the final round of qualifying.
• Once in the Fast 6, Malukas registered a fastest lap of 1:15.8703 to place fifth on the starting grid for tomorrow’s race.
• Last season at the Music City Grand Prix, Malukas started seventh and finished 20th.
• So far this season, Malukas has a best starting position of third (Iowa Speedway Race 2) and a best finish of fourth (Texas Motor Speedway).
• Today’s qualifying result equals Malukas’ best career road/street course qualifying.
• The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix will be broadcast live on NBC starting at Noon ET, Sunday, August 5, 2023.

David Malukas, #18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda
“It’s been a long day of waiting but we finally went out and we managed to qualify fifth at the end of it all. The team worked really hard, and we managed to get a good result today. Going into it I knew that our car succeeds when the grip is low and with the rain we had, there wasn’t going to be a lot of grip and we went out and did the best we could and we got a P5. I can’t thank the Dale Coyne Racing with HMD team enough. We really needed it. We’ll see how the race goes tomorrow. We’ll be going into it a bit blind without a warmup, but it’s the same for everybody and we’ll give it our best.”

Robb to Start from 12th Row in Nashville

Nashville, TN (Saturday, August 4, 2023) – Dale Coyne Racing with RWR driver Sting Ray Robb (#51 Goodheart/Biohaven) qualified 24th in the 27-car field for his first Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on Saturday.

Starting: 24th

• Robb went out in Group 2 of qualifying and immediately went out on a set of the Guayule Firestone tire.
• He completed three timed laps before heading down pit lane for a fresh set of the alternate tire.
• The rookie driver registered his best lap of 1:16.3907 on his sixth lap of the 10-minute session which placed him 12th in his group and 24th on the starting grid.
• Robb is no stranger to the street circuit in Nashville as he finished second last year in INDY NXT. 
• The Music City Grand Prix will be broadcast live on NBC starting at Noon ET, Sunday, August 5, 2023.

Sting Ray Robb #51 Goodheart/Biohaven Honda – Dale Coyne Racing with RWR
“I’m not happy with our qualifying result today but the team did a good job, and we learned a lot. Hopefully it stays dry for the race tomorrow. Congrats to David (Malukas) my teammate for making it into the Firestone Fast 6, it’s a good result for team.”