Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports David Malukas in the No.18 HMD Honda started the 250-lap PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway from ninth place on the grid and managed his race well to come home in fourth place.
Malukas, who had a new strategist this weekend, thought things had gotten away from him towards the end of the race; however, he got things corrected during a late round of pit stops during a caution which helped to cycle him up to the front, running drivers. Speaking following the race he said:
“That race was awesome! And you know what else is awesome? Texas! This place has had a reputation recently for some not so great racing, and that race was awesome. That race was pure chaos, but beautiful chaos—that’s my new word for this week. Beautiful Chaos! And we were up there with the front runners and racing with the bigger teams. I’m so happy with this team; they made a great car for us today.”
Malukas went on to say:
I don’t even know how to put it into words. That was a really good race, so much fun. We had a car that was strong enough to be racing at the front. It was the top three teams with McLaren, Ganassi, Penske and then us at Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports. It was a blast. Thank you so much to the team and Honda, everyone did an amazing job this weekend. What a great way to start the season with two top ten finishes in a row.”
Sting Ray Robb in the No.51 Biohaven Honda started his first oval INDYCAR SERIES race from 23rd place and made steady progress throughout the opening stint of the event. Robb led his first lap as an INDYCAR driver on lap 116 but was forced to retire from the race after contact with the wall on lap 208.
Speaking following the race, Robb said:
“Well, what a day, not the way that we wanted it to end. We were moving forward, and we had such a good car. I feel bad for the 51 Biohaven Honda crew. I was getting to a good spot in the car, and I was comfortable. On that last restart, we made a lot of positions up and a lot of passes and I don’t know if I was just over ambitious or if there was something in front of me that caught us out. But it seemed like the cars ahead checked up way more than they should have, I crept up and there was nowhere to go except where there was no grip. Everywhere else around this track is a blast to drive on, the car was so much fun to drive, but that third lane is not there. I feel bad that I hit the wall and ended our day early.”
#51: Sting Ray Robb, Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda