– It was the most important scene on the make-up race Sunday in Milwaukee: 19 laps from the end, David Malukas was on course for his first IndyCar victory, before his engine suddenly faltered briefly when shifting up at the decisive restart. Pato O’Ward slipped through on the inside, celebrated the double – and a devastated Malukas had to settle for second place for the fourth time in the 2026 season and the sixth time in his career.
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Immediately after the race, the 24-year-old lost his temper on IndyCar Radio’s microphone: “Chevy just let us down. I mean, mixture ignition in the intake plenum [‘Plenum Event’] – every time I leave the pit lane, I have to lift off in first and second gear. That’s ridiculous.”
“The team did a fantastic job, this car was insane. We were so fast, faster than the rest. And then you get left hanging like this at this restart.” When asked if the rev limiter had kicked in, he added frustrated: “I don’t want to go into details. We were disappointed today. We should have won this. We’re just cursed.”
Malukas’ regret: “Childish and immature”
But the waves calmed quickly. On Monday morning, the Penske driver addressed the public on social media and completely retracted: “Well, I’m not proud of what I said yesterday. It was childish and spoken out of frustration.”
“Chevy has done great things for me this year, and without them, I wouldn’t have achieved these results. I apologize for what I said, that was immature of me.”
Rumors that the engine manufacturer forced him to a smoothed retraction were directly contradicted by Malukas: “No one told me anything. Chevy admitted the mistake. My behavior and words were simply wrong. When I crashed in a previous race and Chevy had to build a new engine, they didn’t bash me but supported me.”
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He simply woke up, felt guilty, and wanted to know what it feels like to be criticized despite giving 110 percent effort.
Chevrolet clarifies: Sensor error caused the falter
The official clarification from the US manufacturer has meanwhile been issued. In a statement to Motorsport.com USA, a sister edition of Motorsport-Total.com in the Motorsport Network, Chevrolet explains the exact technical cause of the power loss in lap 231 and at the same time showed understanding for Malukas’ emotional outburst.
“David Malukas had a problem with an engine sensor that caused a ‘Plenum Event’ when shifting up during the last restart shortly before the end of the Sunday race at the Milwaukee Mile,” said the manufacturer. The 2.2-liter V6 biturbo operates at the absolute limit to provide drivers with maximum performance.
“We fully understand David’s frustration at missing out on the targeted victory. Motorsport is a constant balancing act between maximum performance and risk minimization. We will use the insights from last weekend for the season finale at Laguna Seca.”
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With that, the anger feud is off the table. However, before the finale at Laguna Seca Raceway, the bitter statistic remains for Malukas: With six second places without a single win, he shares this unfortunate record with, among others, Romain Grosjean – in the inglorious all-time best list, only Victor Meira (eight second places) is ahead of him.
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