LEBANON, Tenn. — For much of Saturday’s track action at Nashville Superspeedway, David Malukas didn’t know if he would get to race in Sunday night’s Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix.
He smacked the wall in Turn 2 so hard in Saturday morning’s practice, it knocked the steering wheel of the steering column of the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet.
The impact was so severe, it damaged the SAFER Barrier, all but destroyed his primary Chevrolet and banged his knee so hard he was sent to a local hospital for X-rays and further evaluation.
Team Penske began to plan for a race without Malukas in the car and spent one hour talking to fellow driver Conor Daly about filling in.
It looked grim for David Malukas until it didn’t.
The evaluations were good; he passed a final test for INDYCAR by getting in and out of the cockpit of his backup race car without any issues and was cleared to return to action.
It was just in time for Saturday evening’s final practice session split into a one-hour high-line session and concluding with a one-hour final practice.
When the checkered flag dropped to conclude the final practice, it was none other than David Malukas who was the fastest driver on the track with a lap at 193.766 miles per hour in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. That was faster than Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin’s 193.484 mph in the No. 3 Chevrolet.
What a way to end the day for David Malukas.
“Wow, talk about busy in a different way, right?” Malukas told me after climbing out of the car to conclude practice. “I mean, it was rushing. I was eating lunch while getting my knee scanned and looked at just to make the timing for this last practice. But, what an incredible support group behind me and this team to get this car flipped and ready to go.
“They almost had this thing ready for qualifying, which is unreal. I definitely would not be able to be here standing right now doing practice session without the group behind me. Honestly, it felt really good. The medical team got me sorted out, and obviously a little bit of adrenaline, I’m running on there.
“Honestly, with the knee, all the pain is with movement. And in the car, my knee is at full extension, so there’s no pain. It’s pretty funny. It’s painful getting in and out, but once you’re in it, it’s great. I love it.”
Malukas confirmed the only pain was in his knew and IndyCar Medical thought of wrapping it to give it added protection, but after practice Malukas said it wasn’t needed.
He is considering adding a knee pad because parts of the race track are bumpy, especially coming down pit lane. Plus, there is a big bump in Turn 4.
As for the wheel coming off when his knee hit the steering column, Malukas said he had talked to the IndyCar Medical team and was informed that has happened before. Malukas was told they will take pictures and study it further to prevent that from happening in the future.
“Normally, when there’s a repetitive situation that’s happening like this where my knee is going up and
hitting that, they’re going to find something, and they’ll make sure it won’t happen again,” Malukas said.
Malukas had a fast car in the final practice and he’s starting 24th in the 25-car field. He’s ready to make a charge from the back in Sunday evening’s 300-lap Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway.
“It’s going to be a lot of passing,” Malukas predicted. “A lot of it’s going to be with the sweeping, under yellow, because you do 15 laps, and the marbles (little rubber pellets from worn tire rubber) will begin to form on the track.
“Kyle Kirkwood came out of the pits. I went half a line on the track just to pass them on the inside, and I almost slid off in Turn One,” Malukas recalled. “That’s how bad the marbling is. And I think that’s what a lot of those incidents were at the end there.
“People weren’t even going that high, and they’re getting caught out by it. So, it’s going to be a lot of yellows in those first 10, 15 laps. But it’s going to be hard work. It’s such
a long race, it’s going to be tough work.
“But now I’m happy. The longer the race, the more opportunity for us to go forward.
“Who knows? Maybe all the cards played out because now we have an extra set right from the incident and maybe it’s going to play in our favor.”
