By Kirby Arnold, Special Contributor
AVONDALE, Ariz. – Driving for a new-to-him team on a new-to-him race track, David Malukas found himself in a familiar place on a short oval Tuesday.
Beginning his first season in Team Penske’s No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet, Malukas led the speed chart on the opening day of the NTT IndyCar Series’ two-day Unser Open Test on the one-mile oval at Phoenix Raceway.
His best lap of 172.605 mph led Penske teammate Josef Newgarden, who was second-fastest among 25 entries at 172.021.
Malukas has three career podium finishes, two at the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway, and it’s no coincidence that he’s fast out of the box this week on a track that feels similar. Like the oval near St. Louis, Phoenix Raceway features sweeping turns at one end of the track and tighter turns at the other.
“The engineers were saying, ‘Hey, if you like (World Wide Technology Raceway), this might be another one you might add to your list,’” Malukas said. “So far I think they were right. I like it a lot.
“It’s giving me similarities to St. Louis, just having that difference between the two (ends of the track) and trying to get the car setup how you like it in that short timeframe on the back straight, and getting the car swapped with the tools we have to get that good lap time.”
The 24-year-old, who drove last year for A.J. Foyt Racing, isn’t getting too revved about leading the field Tuesday.
He knows teams are on various test schedules, and the proof will come on March 7 when IndyCar returns for the Good Ranchers 250 as part of a historic IndyCar/NASCAR weekend at the speedway. This is IndyCar’s first time back at the desert oval since last racing there in 2018.
“I think it’s hard for test days because you’re running through your own plans, but I mean, of course, it feels good,” Malukas said. “We know that we have pace. The car is good, and we’ve kicked off our oval set with the team on a strong suit. So, I feel confident, but is it what we were aiming for today? No, we just ran through our test plan, and we managed to get a time up on the board.”
Will Power, now with Andretti Global after driving the past 16 years with Team Penske, posted the third-fastest lap Tuesday at 171.706 mph.
Two more practice sessions are scheduled for Wednesday – from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET and 3:30-6:30 p.m. ET.
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