IndyCar: Rookie David Malukas was the real star Saturday at Gateway

While Josef Newgarden won the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 Saturday night at World Wide Technology Raceway (Try saying that three times fast), he did it driving one of the superior Team Penske Cars, so the win was expected.

The real star of the race finished 2nd.

Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports’ sensational rookie David Malukas scored his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES podium with a second-place finish at the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway on Saturday.

Malukas took 2nd place on the final lap by passing the superior #3 Penske Chevy driven by Scott McLaughlin with a daring move.

Earlier in the race, Malukas ran consistently in the opening stints biding his time in a field that initially didn’t see much passing.

As the race went on, he made his way up the field and was running fifth when the race was red flagged for rain on Lap 214.

Following the rain delay, the race resumed with 36 laps remaining.

Restarting fifth, Malukas made his way around lapped cars and took over fourth with a move on Will Power.

He then chased down Pato O’Ward and got by him for third with 17 laps remaining.

Throughout the race, the rookie also led four laps, made 34 on track passes and registered the second fastest race lap (175.693 mph).

Malukas currently sits second in the Rookie of the Year standings, 11 points behind Christian Lundgaard.

“Whew, that was really good! Wow! We knew the car was going to be good and it was just getting better and better. And, from the practice yesterday that was around the same time [as tonight’s race], we knew that the cooler the track got, the better our car was compared to the others.

“So, this whole red flag deal [during the rain delay], I was just like, Please, please let it go green again! And when it went green, I knew that the car was just amazing. I’m not gonna lie though, being up in the front against [Will] Power and Pato [O’Ward], they know how to defend, they know how to block lines, it was really tough to get around them. All in all, the team did such a good job. They deserve it. What a good race!”