"I'll love you forever": David Malukas mourns his grandmother with a heartwarming tribute on IG

In an Instagram post on Monday, David Malukas shared that he lost his grandmother. The 24-year-old IndyCar prodigy is a first-generation American, with his parents and ancestors hailing from Lithuania.

His parents, Henry and Daiva Malukas, moved from Lithuania to America in 1991 at the fall of the Soviet Union, aged just 22 and 23. The high school sweethearts had caught glimpses of America through movies like Rambo and Karate Kid. In an interview with IndyCar in 2022, Henry described his move to America as something beyond a "dream," and later went on to become a great example of the American dream.

The couple started a trucking company, called HMD Trucking Company, and later expanded into motorsports, with his team, HMD Motorsports, which competes in Indy NXT, the junior series to IndyCar. It was through this world that David Malukas found his calling and is living his "American dream".

On Monday, the Team Penske driver shared a post in honor of his late grandmother. The first photo was of him with his grandmother, and the rest of the carousel had glimpses of her through various points in her life.

"Rest in peace, močiuté. Thank you for teaching me to dance through the hard times in life. I’ll love you forever. Give grandpa a hug for me," Malukas wrote in the caption.

Močiuté means grandmother in Lithuanian. Despite being born and brought up in America, David Malukas hasn't turned his back on his Lithuanian roots.

"I still am true to my Lithuanian roots,” David said via IndyCar in 2022. "I love it. I’m always in the culture. My parents celebrate Lithuanian holidays, and we still have many Lithuanian friends. I do identify as an American citizen, but I do still have those true Lithuanian roots."

A career-changing IndyCar season awaits David Malukas in 2026

2026 will possibly be the most crucial year in David Malukas' IndyCar career. The 24-year-old has left AJ Foyt Racing to replace Andretti Global-bound Will Power at Team Penske. He has humongous shoes to fill, with Power's list of achievements too long to mention in one go.

The most prominent of those include two IndyCar championship wins, the 2018 Indy 500 victory, 45 race wins, and a record 71 pole positions. Meanwhile, Malukas has earned the promotion to Team Penske, having only two podiums to his name.

David Malukas with Will Power at the NTT INDYCAR Series Iowa Race Weekend - Source: Getty

Compared to Team Penske's previous hires, most of which were proven performers with race wins, the 24-year-old has none. However, he had a career-best year with AJ Foyt Racing in 2025 and finished runner-up at the 109th Indy 500. Moreover, his qualifying performances have been impressive, especially on ovals.

2026 will be a decisive year in his IndyCar career, with David Malukas having to prove his worth to the Roger Penske-led team, which has bred multiple champions in the past.

Edited by Yash Kotak