David Malukas: 'Not my time' for Indianapolis 500 win

David Malukas' time to win the Indianapolis 500 may come one day. But it wasn't Sunday. 

Malukas had the win in his sights with less than a mile to go in Sunday's race. But in a photo finish — the closest finish in Indy 500 history at just 0.02 seconds — Felix Rosenqvist nipped Malukas to steal the win for himself. 

"I think that was the IMS gods telling me that it's not my time," Malukas said. "I mean, he just had a really good run. There's nothing else I could have done."

Malukas, 24, is still searching for his first career NTT IndyCar Series win, though his runner-up finish on Sunday did move him up to second in the series standings, 42 points behind leader Alex Palou. 

Still, a good points day can't erase what is arguably the most heartbreaking loss in Indianapolis 500 history. 

David Malukas: 'Pain is still there'

"The pain is still there," Malukas said. "Watching the replay and seeing the run that he had, it actually made me feel better because I was like, to be honest, I don't think there's anything I could have done. Maybe could have shortened it by a couple thousandths."

It was the second straight runner-up finish in the Indianapolis 500 for Malukas. 

"Last year was more in the fact of, hey, I do belong here, I can be there in the end for the fight," Malukas said. "Now it feels more of, okay, I've learned what it is to be in those last 20, 30 laps. I've learned from last year what I did wrong, corrected it this time."

Malukas may have made those corrections, but they still didn't result in a win in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. 

And no matter what happens for Malukas over the next 364 days he'll be counting down until he gets another shot at winning the Indianapolis 500. 

Quotes provided by IndyCar Media.