David Malukas prefaces track progression ahead of Ontario Honda Dealers INDY Markham

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor

Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026)

While fans, race teams and NTT INDYCAR SERIES personnel were all disappointed that on-track action was delayed to Saturday, opening practice for the Ontario Honda Dealers INDY Markham proved that the unpredictability of a new circuit caught every driver off guard, even those in contention for the championship.

“We've been dealing with [difficulties], especially just me and my car, just trying to build brake time. We get into an issue where tires are ready and brakes aren't,” David Malukas, driver of the No.12 Chevrolet, said after the first practice session. “It's something that obviously we got to work on.” 

Over 110 points back from championship leader Alex Palou, Malukas opened Saturday’s action needing speed to close his staggering deficit. Even as the sixth-fastest car on track and the second-fastest Team Penske driver behind Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No.3 Chevrolet, Malukas showed frustration in not getting everything out of the car.

"I just lost my temper, which I normally don't. Now we don't have a read on the “reds” (alternates) and only a few hours to figure it out.”

The Chicago-native made a significant jump in final practice, topping group two with a 1:14.194-minute lap time for a third-best overall time among all drivers in the session.

Something the field wasn’t prepared for was the challenge of unexpected elevation at the Turn 5 hairpin because of the differences displayed on the simulator.

Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026)

“Well, the hairpin is definitely different, for multiple reasons,” Malukas said. “Obviously a track change. Also with simulators, it's tough to picture elevation. On the sim, it was flat. In real life, you get a good elevation going up into the hairpin.”

With a tight entry and wide exit, the corner presents a variety of passing opportunities. Malukas sees the corner as a crucial passing point on restarts, but risky when attempting a move on someone in clean air.“If everybody is close and you have a run, somebody gets a little bit of a snap out of turn four, maybe there's an opportunity to get a move done,” Malukas said.

“If it is in clean air running, I don't think it's big enough of a run. You can maybe do a dive bomb, but you're going to go wide.”

The final section of the 2.19-mi circuit is where drivers are the most on edge. A bump at the entry of Turn 10 and the quick set of flowing corners, Turns 7 and 8, caught many drivers out. Felix Rosenqvist's spin in Turn 8 in first practice and Will Power’s wreck in Turn 10 during second practice are among the most notable incidents in these sections.

With qualifying being forced to Saturday night because of Friday’s track-building delay, drivers will be forced to further test the limits with track progression at an all-time high.

“I think track progression was massive. When you look at the first few laps, there was still dust coming from my air intake into my eyes…. I would say by lap four or five, a lot of that got cleaned up, then the track grip started to build,” Malukas said. With this new track resurfacing that they did, the grip level is so high, and you could feel it.”

These cooler conditions, combined with additional tire rubber on the racetrack from the weekend’s other racing series, mean drivers have to be at their best under the weekend’s fastest conditions ahead of qualifying and the Ontario Honda Dealer INDY Markham on Sunday.

“I think when you look at lap times, from practice one, by the time we get to qualifying, I think it's going to be a very big difference,” Malukas said. “It's going to be in seconds. Especially if it's cooler tonight, that's even better for us. It's going to be fast.”

NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying at Markham starts at 6:30 p.m. EST on FS2. Race day action for the Ontario Honda Dealer INDY Markham starts tomorrow at 12:00 pm EST on FOX.