Cozy up to the fireplace or enjoy drinks on the screened-in back deck. The primary bathroom, laundry room and kitchen are all freshly renovated. Located only 5 minutes from Wedgewood-Houston + the new soccer stadium and 10 minutes from downtown, this home enjoys the rare amenities of a large, private yard, a quiet street and plenty of space between neighbors while still maintaining ultra convenience. "It's definitely intimidating when there's two Penskes in front of you.Renovated Woodbine charmer with a HUGE yard. I mean, I was nervous, but I was trying so hard not to get overexcited and do something stupid," Malukas said.
"I was trying so hard to not get nervous. Man," he said.Īnd so he had to collect himself as he chased the duo. Malukas rooted for Team Penske as a kid and says he's stayed out of their way when he made it to Ind圜ar this season: "Every time through practice, every time they passed me, I always let them by. It took a moment for him to realize that "Oh, my God, they're Penskes. His engineer radioed that Malukas was about to get sight of the race leaders and then he caught a glimpse of them sailing through Turns 1 and 2. Malukas acknowledged both getting out of the way of Penske cars during practice and also getting a little starry-eyed when he found himself racing Newgarden and McLaughlin. He's probably been one of the cleanest rookies I've ever seen.
"When you see rookies, I think you definitely are a bit more cautious or reserved, or at least you're second-guessing what you think you should be doing," Newgarden said. Newgarden is three points behind Team Penske teammate Will Power with two races remaining, yet he didn't worry about the potential risks of racing a rookie with Saturday night's win on the line. Newgarden heaped praise on Malukas after the race and said Malukas, a Lithuanian-American from the Chicago area, could probably get a little more aggressive. He finished eighth in the second race of the Iowa doubleheader last month and is ranked 16th in the standings, ahead of Indianapolis 500 winners Helio Castroneves and Takuma Sato, his teammate, and also the rest of the rookie class. Once the drama faded from social media, Malukas went back to big runs for tiny Dale Coyne Racing. Malukas supporters were outraged and, after posting his own 200-plus mph marks in practice, as well as actually finishing highest among the Indy 500 rookies, Malukas himself wondered how he lost out on top rookie to 46-year-old Johnson. Just three months ago he was smarting from losing Indianapolis 500 top rookie honors to Jimmie Johnson, who finished the race below Malukas but was rewarded for both an eye-popping speed show in qualifying and his ambassadorship for "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." "Maybe I can just tell them I'll close my mouth, I don't know." "Why didn't they give me the real stuff? That's not fun," Malukas said. He even got to celebrate with champagne when Newgarden graciously let the underage Malukas spray the real stuff instead of the grape juice he'd been given. It's Muh-GLOCK'-luhn, McLaughlin said, and there's no soft h.Įither way, second-place was just as good as the win on Saturday night for Malukas. It wasn't his only mistake of the night: Malukas was scolded by McLaughlin for mispronouncing his last name. "I'm going to put it in the back of my brain and remember it for next time." But I guess rookie season, rookie stuff," Malukas said. "It was a bit unfortunate I did it so late. What took him so long to try the outside lane? Although he ran out of time to catch Newgarden, Malukas was closing in quickly when Newgarden took his series-best fifth win of the season. His car like a rocket ship in the top lane, he sailed past McLaughlin on the outside. On fresh tires for the final run of the night, Malukas waited until two laps to go to experiment with the upper groove at Gateway. His 16th-place finish in the Indianapolis 500 was his lowest of the five ovals on the schedule his second-place finish Saturday night was the best of his maiden Ind圜ar season and his first career podium.Īnd yet he's left to wonder if a rookie mistake cost him a chance at running down Newgarden for the win at Gateway. He's still learning oval racing, even though his results show he's a quick study. He picked off McLaughlin, and if there had been one more lap, Malukas might have won his first Ind圜ar victory. Newgarden thought, "Wow, that kid is hungry.'"Īlas, Malukas ran out of time on the 1.25-mile oval outside St. Then he set his sights over the final lap on Newgarden, the two-time Ind圜ar champion so far unable to take control of the championship race. The 20-year-old was flying and darted outside and around Scott McLaughlin for second.