ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Dale Coyne is hoping to recapture past success in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg with the youngest driver combination in the NTT IndyCar Series.
Coyne is a former driver in the CART Series who has since become a longtime team owner in IndyCar, who also has plenty of his own experience in the cockpit of an Indy car. But his role has changed in recent years, especially with the addition of young talents to the Dale Coyne Racing roster.
At 21, David Malukas of Chicago returns for his second season at Dale Coyne Racing. His teammate is rookie driver Sting Ray Robb of Payette, Idaho. Robb, 21, has risen to the pro ranks after successfully climbing IndyCar’s ladder system, ending last year in what is now known as the Indy NXT Series Presented by Firestone.
At 68, Coyne intends to showcase his youthful talent with two 21-year-olds behind the wheel of his powerful Hondas.
“It’s a different approach for us,” Coyne said. “It’s different than what we have done in the past. I must sharpen my pencil. I must be more involved now. Before, you trusted the veteran you had to lead the youngster. Now, you must throw a little bit of everything you have learned from those veterans over the years and use that to be sure these guys are going in the right direction.”
Five years ago, the right direction at St. Petersburg was charted by a veteran lineup.
Experienced race engineer Craig Hampson and the legendary Sebastien Bourdais won on the Florida streets for the second straight year in 2018. Hampson’s brilliant engineering expertise combined with Bourdais’ tenacity as a driver was a powerful combination.
Combine that with Coyne’s caginess on top of the timing stand, the team was able to turn this beautiful city on the Gulf Coast of Florida into their own Spring Break playground.
“In all honesty, it was strategy to go from the back to the front,” Coyne recalled. “Once Sebastien got in the top five, he smelled the front and took care of the rest.
“It was close to the top of my career. We have won several races with half of them won on strategy and half of them just being fast. That really was a combination of both. He had one where he spun early in the race and went all the way to the back. The other one, he didn’t qualify well and started in the back. We took gambles in the race to get him in the top five in each of those races.
“When Sebastien smells the front of the field, he goes after it hard. It was a combination of both of those. He really had that fire in his eyes. He was very professional and very experienced. He was frustrated at the back, and we took a gamble in the race to jump him forward.
“We got lucky twice and he took care of the rest.”
David Malukas makes laps at The Thermal Club in his Dale Coyne Racing entry. (Chris Owens photo)
Last year, Dale Coyne Racing featured two-time Indianapolis 500 winning driver Takuma Sato of Japan and then-20-year-old Malukas on the roster. The team owner hoped the combination of a veteran with a young driver would help Malukas learn.
Malukas qualified 24th and finished 26th after crashing on lap 23.
It was a slow start to what would prove to be a fast season for the rookie. The highlight of the season was a second-place finish in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway.
“The way last season started, everything was new, and it started off a bit rough, but later in the season we found a very good setup for street races,” Malukas said. “We had our success on street courses. At Detroit and Toronto, we made the Fast Six and at Nashville we were battling for top positions at the end of the race. We have a very good car when it comes to street circuits and I’m looking forward to using that setup at St. Pete.
“There are going to be good opportunities. I think it will be a pretty good battle.”
Malukas believed the combination of a veteran driver working with a rookie helped him in 2022. Ironically, this year Malukas is the veteran and Robb is the rookie.
“I’m the veteran of the team, but it doesn’t feel like it,” Malukas said. “I have just one season under the belt. It’s still going to be a good duo. With Sting Ray, our driving styles are very, very similar. After his test at Sebring and the preseason test at Thermal, you can put our data together and it’s almost exactly the same. I think we will work very well together and have the right car.
“I’m not a veteran in the series yet, but I’m the veteran on this team.”
According to Coyne, Robb landed his ride because of a successful test at Sebring, Fla., during the offseason. He ran faster lap times than Ferrari Formula One test driver Robert Schwartzman until the very end of the test, when Schwartzman ended the session just eight-thousandths of a second faster than Robb.
Coyne liked what he saw in the driver who spent last season at Andretti Autosport in Indy NXT and gave him the seat in his Honda.
Coyne believes the two young drivers will work well together because they can relate to each other.
“David and I are going to complement each other a lot because we have gone through recent stages in our careers at the same time,” Robb said. “He made the transition from Indy NXT to IndyCar last year. I’ve already learned a lot from him, the things he learned that he didn’t know he was going to have to deal with that I’m able to take on a little bit earlier because I saw what he did.
“With Dale Coyne at the helm, that makes it more interesting because he has that sage knowledge and knows years of experience that will allow David and I to grow quicker. It allows us to be a bit more ambitious because we don’t have to deal with the history of what should we be doing? We are started at Ground Zero, but we know what we are capable of.”
The two go all the way back to the karting days when they were still kids. That has created a bond between the two.
“We’d see each other at the track and were always competitive; now we are in IndyCar together,” Robb said. “Our relationship is pretty good because we know where we came from. We don’t have to get to know each other because we already know each other. It helps a lot. As the season continues, we will grow closer together and our communication will improve as with any other series.
“It’s cool to see. It’s nice that you are living the dream with someone else that you know is living their dream. We are in similar position. It’s not too often that drivers get to share that with someone of similar age and stage of their career.”
Sting Ray Robb scored his first career Indy Lights victory at Laguna Seca in 2022. (Al Steinberg Photo)
Robb believes the two can push each other because they are both younger.
It’s similar to the way he benefitted from his teammates at Andretti Autosport in Indy NXT.
Malukas believes the two drivers can ask questions and give each other advice with an open mind. Last year, Malukas was able to learn from a successful veteran in Sato, but also observe what drivers such as Scott Dixon, Will Power and Scott McLaughlin were doing on the track during a race.
“I could learn so much just by following them,” Malukas recalled. “The way their line changes when they are trying to save fuel with tire saving, there is so much to it. Part of it is trying to catch on as quickly as possible, but at the same time, the more time, the more practice, the more you learn.
“Even now, there is so much to learn about race strategy for this season. I plan on helping Sting Ray as much as possible with all the information that I learned last season because the quicker I can get him to being comfortable with the car, the quicker we can help each other.”
Malukas is impressed by the way Robb remains determined through a race stint.
During breaks in an IndyCar weekend, Malukas was able to watch the Indy NXT action and was impressed that Robb was able to keep a cool head, overcome setbacks and forge ahead to battle for the podium. As the man who oversees this youth movement on the team, Coyne believes Malukas will become a better driver by helping Robb adapt to IndyCar.
“David being the elder statesman this year will help him mature faster,” Coyne said. “He realizes he is being looked up to as well. It will help him. Their driving styles are the same, which is a nice thing to have. I’m looking forward to what they can do this year.”
Malukas is proud to be part of this youth movement. He looks at Coyne as a sage leader who can impart his wisdom to two young drivers willing to learn.
“I think it’s really good to help get the younger generation in with more opportunities into IndyCar,” Malukas said. “You see all these veterans like Scott Dixon and Will Power, it’s very cool to be racing against them. But it’s nice when Dale can give the opportunity and the perfect environment to people like me. Everything is fresh.
“IndyCar is such a big deal. When I came into it, I was nervous and shocked because it was all a big, big thing. But a team like Dale Coyne Racing can make you feel so comfortable, make you feel at home and make you feel like family. It is the perfect environment to show my potential and give 110 percent without having too much pressure on me.
“I’m proud to be part of the crew and hopefully be part of a bigger trend to have Dale Coyne helps these younger drivers.”
Keyword: Coyne Lends Sage Wisdom To Drivers Malukas & Robb Ahead Of St. Petersburg Opener