Bob Pockrass
FOX Motorsports Insider
Meet the Meme King of INDYCAR.
At 23 years old, David Malukas already has 53 starts in the series, and it could have been more if not for a broken wrist suffered while mountain biking that turned his 2024 year into turmoil — the injury resulting in him being released from Arrow McLaren before ever appearing in a race.
The now-A.J. Foyt Racing driver (who is seen as a possible replacement for Will Power at Team Penske) is 12th in the standings after 10 races this season.
He is also a self-proclaimed video game addict and master meme-maker, as he details in this interview with FOX Sports.
Who is David Malukas?
David Malukas is a Gen Z INDYCAR driver. I like memes. I like to go fast.
Courtesy of Alex Brisbey.
How would your friends or your girlfriend describe you?
That’s how, I think, they would describe me. Just very, I’d say, real. I am who I am. No matter the situation, I like to just be myself, show my jokes, my memes — no matter how serious things can be.
We’re at Road America, a place where you saw your dad race. How cool is it to race at a place where you watched your dad? (Father Henry is a racer and owner of HMD Motorsports in INDY NXT)
It’s very cool. And it was really cool because he was in the Corvette, too. I grew up here as a kid, did some karting and watched my dad drive around here, so it’s pretty fun. Me and him can always talk and converse about how much INDYCAR is going through the carousel and the kink. He’s always blown away that we’re actually flat [on the throttle] going through there. It’s awesome.
Does he give you advice on how to drive an INDYCAR?
No, definitely not. No advice from his side. When he was still doing some driving here and there, he was actually asking me for some advice, how to go through it. He did DD2 [karting], … and he actually made it to the kart masters finals. So he was pretty good at the time. He was on it.
Courtesy of Alex Brisbey.
You’re from the Chicago area, so are you a Bulls fan in Indiana country?
For me, I was never too much into the whole basketball thing. So actually, I went to the Pacers games and kind of had a connection. The game I tried to go to was when they were going against the Bulls. For me, it was a win-win situation. No matter what happens here, I’m going to be happy. That was a strategic game to go watch.
Cubs or White Sox?
It was always just motorsports, motorsports as a kid. But you kind of always had to pick a side. And for me, when I was very, very young, it was the White Sox. But now, we’ve been Cubs.
As a Gen Z driver, do you think they need better music at the track? What’s the suggestion of a Gen Z driver for an INDYCAR race?
It’s always to make things just feel fun. I think there’s always a balance between being professional and obviously having some jokes here and there. For me, a little bit looser walking around the paddock, making some more jokes, like you said some good music. Anything that has to do with memes and just making memes out of everything. That’s kind of been my spiel.
How many memes have gotten you in trouble, and how many memes do people really like?
I have to go through a very extensive course. It takes me hours or sometimes days before I even post something to make sure that the meme I’m posting won’t get taken wrong in any way. I ask so many different people of all different categories. I’m like, “What do you see out of this?” The majority of the people outside of Gen Z say, “I don’t even know what that means.” So I’m like, “OK, great.” That’s what I wanted to hear because then nobody even understands what’s going on. So we do take extensive care to make sure that what I post is not going to be conflicting in any way. But also, some of the time, that is part of the Gen Z jokes is pushing the edge a little bit on a lot of stuff.
Courtesy of Alex Brisbey.
It seems like that type of attitude has also probably helped you over the last 18 months.
Of course — 100 percent. You go into it having full confidence, and I just do what I want to do. I don’t let anything kind of change who I am or change what I want to do. I just go out there and do my thing.
And you are a little bit of a gamer, too? Or a lot?
Yeah, a lot.
So what’s the best game you’re playing right now?
Football Manager is what I’m playing right now. It’s soccer. During my puberty years, I really got connected with soccer — football internationally — because I lived in England and the Premier League over there is just such a big deal. It’s massive over there. So I got that connection over there. Shout out my team, Chelsea. I’ve just been in love with football. So I got on this Football Manager, super nerdy, really into detail. Anything that you could think of from a management standpoint, making sure that everybody’s happy and then the players are in the right mood, and figuring out their skill sets. It goes super into detail. And I love it. Growing up as a kid, it was Call of Duty, the casual ones. And now it’s more very nerdy stuff. The more brain intensive to cure my ADHD, the better.
Courtesy of Alex Brisbey.
Are you somebody who can’t start playing because you’re going to play it for four hours so you just don’t start?
Yes. That’s all the games that I play. By the time you actually get into the zone and start the game, it’s like two hours have gone by. So, normally, in these times when it’s like 30 minutes, an hour, I can’t really get it done.
So you don’t even try?
No, I don’t even try. It’s just not going to happen.
Do you ever worry about getting addicted?
Addicted? I’m already addicted. 100 percent, yes. It is what it is. My whole family, ADHD is a big thing. Anything that can help with our hyper-fixations, the better. So for me, gaming just lets me kind of switch everything off and be super hyper-fixated on this one thing that’s going on. And I think that also correlates to my successes on track. You get so hyper-fixated on what’s in front of you and hitting your lines, and you get into this rhythm, this other zone, and it just cures whatever’s going on inside my brain.
Do you have pseudonym name so nobody knows who you are on those games?
Oh, yeah, 100 percent.
So you’ve never had anybody come up to you at the track and be like, ‘Hey, I was playing you’?
No, but being a super-intense gamer, I’m on Reddit, by the way, you Redditors. Man, if I’ve had a bad race, I don’t go on Reddit because people are aggressive, so stay away from Reddit. But I’m on Reddit. I’m on Discord. I’m actually part of the INDYCAR Discord channel, so I’ve connected with a lot of players on there, and so they actually know my name and see me play. And obviously, Discord tells them what I’m playing. So some people definitely do know from the INDYCAR paddock, but most don’t.
Finally, do you try to explain this stuff to your team boss Larry Foyt?
I haven’t even tried. I think it would go right over his head.
Courtesy of Alex Brisbey.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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