David Malukas shares raw emotions after Pato O'Ward upstaged him for IndyCar pole at Nashville

AJ Foyt Racing star David Malukas will start the IndyCar finale at Nashville Superspeedway in P2 as Pato O'Ward snatched the pole position away from the 23-year-old American in the final moments of the qualifying. The AFR driver came out and shared his raw emotion after going through the same feeling as last week's race at the Milwaukee Mile.

David Malukas, given his position in the IndyCar standings, went out in the second group of drivers and set a blistering pace during his qualifying run. The AJ Foyt Racing driver displaced Josef Newgarden, who was on the provisional pole, and put his name at the top of the timing sheets.

The Chevrolet cars looked strong at the Nashville Superspeedway, and as Christian Lundgaard crossed the finish line and failed to beat Malukas’ time, Pato O'Ward was the only Chevrolet runner left, and arguably the one who could displace the AFR driver from the provisional pole.

NTT INDYCAR Series Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix - Source: Getty

The Mexican driver went out and set a lap time much faster than David Malukas, and snatched the pole away in the final moments of the qualifying. The 23-year-old came out and shared his emotions as he said,

“Definitely disappointed. Perfect car. I was driving a beauty. It was a piece of cake doing 200mph. It was hard to beat. I wanted a (pole position) sticker.” (via Racer)

While David Malukas will start the race on the front row, his teammate Santino Ferrucci only qualified P14 and will start in P13 after Callum Ilott’s grid drop penalty.

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“It's another day of almost”: David Malukas on being the second-best qualifier two races in a row

David Malukas also took the provisional pole at last weekend’s IndyCar race at Milwaukee Mile, before Alex Palou sank the dreams and hopes for the #4 Chevrolet driver at the very last moment. Palou took the pole position at Milwaukee while Malukas had to settle for P2.

The AFR driver faced a similar disappointment this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway, with Pato O'Ward being the second last qualifier. Speaking about being beaten to the pole position at the very end of the qualifying two races in a row, Malukas said,

“It's another day of almost. Getting kind of annoyed of that, but we're going to get there. We're going to keep pushing.” (via Motorsport)

However, Malukas’ strong performances towards the end of the season will be crucial in Team Penske's decision regarding the #12 Chevrolet seat as Will Power’s contract expires after the current season. Malukas has been speculated as a possible replacement for the Australian.