New IndyCar podium finisher David Malukas says he has “different options” for his second year in the series, in 2023.
The Dale Coyne Racing driver passed Scott McLaughlin on the final lap to finish second, last time out at Gateway Motorsports Park, in the #18 car which is co-entered with his father Henry’s HMD Motorsports entity.
While Malukas had previously finished no higher than eighth, he impressed during the month of May with some of the fastest practice speeds around Indianapolis Motor Speedway, when he and two-time 500-winning team-mate Takuma Sato split set-up duties.
In fact, the American-Lithuanian was considered by many to have been hard done by when he was overlooked for Rookie of the Year honours in favour of Jimmie Johnson, an opinion which DCR expressed quite bluntly.
Speaking of the eve of his sensational maiden podium in St Louis, Malukas revealed that he is far from a certainty to stay at DCR next year.
“Oh, there’s some interesting things, but I’m not sure how much I can say right now,” said the 2021 Indy Lights runner-up about his plans for 2023.
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“Right now, the arrows point to staying with Dale Coyne Racing for another year, which I’d also really like.
“I feel like, in this seat, we’ve gotten so much better every single race, and I feel like a whole other season, we’d be that much better.
“But there’s still different options here and there, but a lot of it is ‘hush hush.’”
Where Malukas could go which would be a clear upgrade on DCR is not clear, although Chip Ganassi Racing could be looking for a star of the future if Alex Palou, against whom it has taken legal action over a contract dispute, is not in the #10 Honda next year.
Team Penske is already full, McLaren SP has filled two of its seats and has Felix Rosenqvist lined up for the third if attempts to land the services of Palou fall through, and Andretti Autosport has reportedly settled on continuing with Devlin DeFrancesco in one of its four cars, meaning there would be no room alongside Colton Herta, Romain Grosjean, and Kyle Kirkwood.
The second-last round of the season takes place next weekend in Portland.
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