SALINAS, Calif. -- A month ago, David Malukas told reporters in Nashville he had a reliable option for his future despite the questions surrounding IndyCar's most valuable free agents: Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou and Marcus Ericsson.

Days later, Palou canceled his long-presumed move to Arrow McLaren for 2024, paving the way for McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown to call up the 21-year-old Chicago-native for what the most high-profile open ride on the silly season market presently, partnering alongside Pato O'Ward and Alexander Rossi on a multi-year deal in the No. 6 Chevy.

"I can't wait to race in papaya next season," said Malukas, who for his first two IndyCar seasons raced for Dale Coyne Racing in a partnership with his family's growing HMD Motorsports program. "Arrow McLaren has been a threat to the top contenders all season long, and I'm excited to join the team and see what their Chevrolets can do."

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Malukas' second IndyCar campaign met the high expectations he'd set for himself after his runner-up finish in 2022 at World Wide Technology Raceway, rattling off a pair of top-10 finishes at St. Pete (10th) and Texas Motor Speedway (4th). But a series of DCR pitlane miscues, mechanical failures and lack of competitive speed dominated his next three months of results where he finished no better than 19th in a six-race stretch from Long Beach to Road America that included four-straight DNFs at the end.

It was then he told IndyStar to kickoff the Mid-Ohio race weekend in early-July he no longer had any intention of returning to DCR for a third season after his initial two-year deal at the end of 2023 was complete.

"Dale is very, very impressive with the team, and they're all very good with what they do and the people they have, but with the way things have been going mentally on my end, it just hasn't been the chemistry I really wanted -- which was what we had at the start (in 2022)," Malukas told IndyStar of his decision to look elsewhere for future opportunities on June 30. "So, going to a different team, a bigger team -- something just in a different environment -- would be helpful on my end."

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Two days after those comments, Malukas turned in a 6th-place finish at Mid-Ohio, part of an eight-race stretch that leads into this season-finale weekend where he's had four top-10s and his second-career podium at WWTR -- this year 3rd-place. At the moment, he sits 16th in points, matching his finish as a rookie a year ago, and he's 10 points back of 15th (Rinus VeeKay), 16 back of 14th (Graham Rahal) and 21 back of 13th (Romain Grosjean) with one race remaining.

"David is an up-and-comer in the IndyCar series and based on what we've seen from him so far in his first two seasons, I'm confident there's a lot of talent we can extract from him through the resources we have at Arrow McLaren," Brown said in a statement.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyCar: Arrow McLaren signs David Malukas after Alex Palou fall through