IndyCar: David Malukas should have won Indy 500 Rookie of Year, but has it stolen (2nd Update)

Dale Coyne Racing  is miffed that Jimmie Johnson was named the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year despite two crashes at Indy and crashing out of the race.

Johnson is a complete backmarker in IndyCar and, while he qualified well in Ganassi’s superior car at the Brickyard, as soon as the green flag dropped he was passed like a wanker and was down in 25th position at the time ran out of talent in Turn 2 and crashed.

David Malukas, on the other hand, never put a wheel wrong, made the checkered flag in 16th, best of the rookies.

Dale Coyne Racing has this to say.

We all know that @malukasdavid is the actual Indy 500 Rookie of the Year. Maybe actually finishing the race needs to be part of the criteria. #Onceagainwewererobbed https://t.co/nFuyw0lxXS

— Dale Coyne Racing (@DaleCoyneRacing) May 30, 2022

Despite crashing multiple times during the month of May, politics gave Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors.

Malukas drove a clean race and did not crash his car in the race and came home as the top rookie driver, but he’s not one of IndyCar’s ‘pet’ drivers.

Rookie David Malukas (#18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports) took part in his first Indianapolis 500 on Sunday accomplishing both goals he had set for himself heading into the 500-mile race by taking the checkered flag as the highest finishing rookie.

• After running strong all month, Malukas started 13th on the 33-car grid and ran in or near that position for the majority of the race.
• In a race that didn’t see a lot of passing throughout the field, the rookie did make up positions on restarts which allowed him to move up as high as 8th twice during the race.
• For his first Indy 500, Malukas drove a strong race and stayed out of trouble to take the checkered flag in 16th place as the highest finishing rookie.
• The rookie’s finish was a testament to his team’s hard work and detailed preparation after they had to rebuild his car following an incident with another car on Carb Day.

David Malukas, #18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda
“Race day is over, and the Month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has come to an end. We finished the race, it was everything I wanted. I wanted to finish and be the highest finishing rookie and we achieved both of those things today. So, I’m very happy. I’ve now realized why people say that this track chooses its winners because there are so many different things that can happen, and everything just needs to go your way. There’s a lot of possibilities. Things didn’t always go our way, but we finished P16. Overall, I’m very happy, I made minimal mistakes from my side being a rookie and going into the next one I’m going to be expecting the race to be this long!”