“I learned my lesson”: David Malukas reflects on being a ‘good boy’ after less adrenaline-fueled IndyCar offseason shenanigans 

Drivers usually spend their winter break having crazy ventures, but David Malukas' break was different. The 23-year-old suffered a mountain biking accident last year that cost him his seat at Arrow McLaren Racing. Leading him to do low-risk-taking activities during this year's holidays, learning from his previous mishaps.

After two years in the series with Dale Coyne Racing, the Illinois-born driver was given a contract with a top team. Arrow McLaren Racing approached Malukas and brought him in for the 2024 season.

However, David Malukas suffered a mountain biking accident in February last year, where he dislocated his left wrist. He then had to sit out seven rounds of the 2024 season, which led to his contract with McLaren getting terminated.

Subsequently, when asked about his activities during this year's break, he answered:

"I went to Europe. I went to England, Italy and Macedonia. Caught up with some friends, saw some cool places and then I went to Hawaii for Christmas with my family, so I had a good time, we went around."

Although he mentioned going ziplining with his nephews, he mentioned how he has been laying low when it comes to high-risk outdoor activities and that even the zipline was as low as 3 feet off the ground, requiring him to raise his knees to make it through. He laughingly admitted that he learned his lesson after his antics last year, and deemed that he had been a 'good boy' throughout the break.

"Other than that though, just went to the gym, got ready for the season and work as pretty much it. I learned my lesson, yeah I'm a good boy now," he added.

The 23-year-old is all set to begin his journey with A. J. Foyt Racing in the racing sphere.

David Malukas opens up about his time on IndyCar sidelines

David Malukas at the NTT IndyCar Series GMR Grand Prix - Source: Getty

After getting to know about his contract termination, David Malukas was given a huge setback. Amid his recovery journey, he had lost his seat in the series he raced.

While many would have been disheartened by this, the 23-year-old collected himself and observed the racing action from the sidelines.

"Yeah, sitting on the sidelines watching, that was really tough. That was hard. I definitely had to keep some emotions in watching everybody go around... There’s a lot that I learned that as a driver you don’t really know much of what’s going on, so I think it was good by the time I got in the car I didn’t get angry at the engineers or the strategy on what’s going on because they can see a lot more than the driver can see," he recalled [via Motorsport Week].

Anyhow, his career was revived with Meyer Shank Racing signing him mid-way through the season. He secured two top-10 finishes in the 10 rounds he participated in, which was enough for A. J. Foyt Racing to snub him away from the Ohio-based squad.