 After a dominating performance by Sage Karam at Watkins Glen International, the drivers of the Lionheart IndyCar Series presented by First Medical Equipment switch their focus to the 1-mile oval at Phoenix. Known for having a history of producing multiple cautions in the Lionheart Series drivers will have to be at the top of their game to avoid incidents and finish with a good result.
For the first time in series history drivers will also be facing a new challenge with the recent addition of the safety aeroscreen currently in place on the real world cars. The aeroscreen, designed as a safety feature to protect the cockpit area has been adapted to the iRacing platform. Lionheart’s drivers will have to quickly adjust to the new view from the cockpit. The aeroscreen has also changed the handling and aerodynamics of the car which is something additional for the drivers to adapt to. Dustin Wardlow is the defending race winner at Phoenix. The California native finished 0.614 seconds ahead of Karam and led 77 laps enroute to his 2nd career win in the series. Wardlow has had a slow start to this season and currently sits P34 after Homestead and Watkins Glen. A solid finish will be needed in order to start turning his championship hopes around. LPM Thumbs Up driver Brian Yaczik in contrast to Wardlow has had a strong start to his season despite dropping one position after Round 2 and currently sits P5 overall. Yaczik won at Phoenix back in Season 6 and along with Wardlow is the only active driver to have a chance at becoming a two-time winner at Phoenix. Jonathan Goke is the only driver in Lionheart IndyCar history to have two wins after going back to back in Seasons 4 and 5. Jason Galvin of LPM Cancer Down is looking to rebound after a tough outing at the Glen. Glavin dropped 18 positions in the standings but is looking to get his IR-18 up to the front at Phoenix as Thumbs Up Cancer Down is the presenting sponsor of the upcoming event. The Lionheart veteran will also be celebrating his 100th Lionheart career start and could possibly use this motivation to bring home a great result after the checkered flag flies in the desert. Phoenix is not without some controversy in the Lionheart Racing Series. Taking place back in Season 3 on November 18th 2015 during the Round 14 event at Phoenix. Jason Robarge on old tires made a daring and gutsy pass on Jake Wright to take over the lead in the closing laps of the race. Robarge was on his way to victory when a damaged and slow car was driving in the middle of the track. Robarge as well as the field made evasive maneuvers however it was enough for Jake Wright to pass Robarge back in what became a photo finish. That race stands as the top 10th all-time closest finishes with Wright beating Robarge by just 0.038 Seconds. The Lionheart Racing Series powered by HyperX roars into Phoenix for the Thumbs Up Cancer Down Phoenix 200 on Wednesday April 1st, 2020 Live at 10:35 p.m. EST on the iRacing eSports Network Courtesy of the Global Sim Racing Channel.
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 The coronavirus outbreak is keeping Sage Karam out of a real world IndyCar. But the veteran driver is still finding a way to terrorize fellow racers: on the virtual track. Karam led all but four laps en route to a dominating performance Wednesday night in the Ascher Racing Grand Prix at The Glen, round two of the Lionheart IndyCar Series presented by First Medical Equipment season. “It’s all good, this is pretty awesome that we’re one of the only sports who can bring action to the fans like this right now,” Karam said about not being able to compete in his real IndyCar. “Obviously I was pretty bummed not to get to run St. Petersburg, and I used one of my Lionheart drops missing the race that week.” Karam earned his first pole of the year in the Lionheart Racing Series powered by HyperX, and only surrendered the lead during the second pit cycle, when he chose to pit early while defending series champion Adam Blocker stayed out. “I kind of messed up there, I saved a little in the middle run and short filled it for some reason,” Karam said. “I was going to be right on while saving fuel, and that’s why Joshua (Chin) started closing in, he was using his push-to-pass and I couldn’t...it’s definitely a tough track, it can bite you pretty fast.” Chine, a teammate of Karam’s at SKM, finished second, and made a late race push to close within two seconds of his teammate. But Chin never was close enough to mount a real attack. “I can’t really complain about being in second, Sage had the field covered,” Chin said. “I was hoping to come out of here with the points lead, but being second in points and second in the race is a good night.” Blocker also pushed hard to force Chin into a mistake, finishing under a second behind the series rookie in third. “The setup had a lot of understeer in dirty air,” Blocker said. “I knew once I got behind those guys I was going to need them to make a mistake or something. But it just didn’t work.” Several top series contenders encountered problems, including Dustin Wardlow, whose race ended on lap 23 when Damon Martinez spun in the bus stop and Wardlow careened off the guardrail while avoiding. Bryan Carey started sixth but retired after just eight laps after a crash, while Jason Galvin was penalized for running over Marc Cohn on the opening lap after the field checked up in the bus stop. Two laps later, Galvin suffered a mechanical failure, relegating him to a 38th place finish. Nathan Lewis started second but also lost control of his car early. Lewis avoided serious damage and was able to rebound to 10th, but was plenty disappointed thinking about what might have been. Connor Harrington and Michael Goodman ran clean races to round out the top-five. Harrington holds a 9 point advantage over Chin in the season standings after two rounds. The Lionheart IndyCar Series presented by First Medical Equipment returns to the ovals, and the second of three-consecutive races early in the season, Wednesday night. The Thumbs Up, Cancer Down 200 at Phoenix Raceway can be seen live on April 1 at 10:35 p.m. EST on the iRacing eSports Network, with presentation from Global SimRacing Channel.  After a successful season opener on the oval at Homestead, Lionheart changes focus to its first road event of the 2020 Season. This season the competition will be tougher than ever with the amount of talented road course drivers on the roster.
Last season saw Adam Blocker win 7 of the 9 road course events on his way to his 2nd Lionheart IndyCar Series championship. It was an impressive display of road course dominance that has seemingly been the key to securing every Lionheart championship since the league’s formation back in 2014. This season several rookies entering Lionheart this year are poised to give Blocker a real fight for the Road Championship presented by SimXperience. Adam Frazier, Arjuna Kankipati, Nathan Lewis, Richard Hollyday and Josh Chinn are all set to make a statement early in the season. The path to the 2020 Championship could start at the Glen. Series veterans are definitely looking to make a statement of their own. Real world IndyCar driver Sage Karam enters the Glen as the defending race winner and picked up 2 road course wins in 2019. Sage also holds the Lionheart race lap record at Watkins Glen. Andrew Kinsella, George Sandman, Michael Goodman, Tyler Graaf, Stephen Laarkamp, Connor Harrington and Brian Yaczik are also very quick on the road. Brian Beard showed perhaps the biggest improvement in pace on the road courses during the 2019 Season is also looking for solid runs this year. Connor Harrington enters the round 2 event with the points lead after his 2nd win in the series and a lot of confidence. Harrington has shown to have a fast pace on road courses during his Lionheart career. Securing podium finishes at Watkins, Detroit, and Laguna Seca as well as a trio of top 5’s at Mosport, Barber and Road America. Harrington has proven to be a threat on the road courses and is hungry for his first official win when turning left and right. The Lionheart Racing Series Powered by HyperX roars into Watkins Glen Wednesday March 25th, 2020 for Round 2 of the 20-race season. The Ascher Racing Grand Prix at the Glen will kick off live on the iRacing eSports Network courtesy of the Global Sim Racing Channel at 9:35pm CST For more information on the Lionheart Racing Series Powered by HyperX and the Lionheart IndyCar Series Presented by First Medical Equipment visit www.lionheartracingseries.com  The Lionheart Racing Series announced today a first-time partnership with Improvised Design, a leader in Sim Racing photography specializing in highly detailed and stylized screen shots on the iRacing.com service.
“Owner Elliot Roberts of Improvised Design is known on the iRacing service for creating some of the most amazing Sim Racing photographs,” said series founder Jorge Anzaldo. “Elliot has a real eye for catching the action and excitement that is unique to motorsports, his images are just simply amazing and he has a way of capturing the sense of movement and speed in each photo.” “If you’re looking for the highest quality images in Sim Racing look no further than Improvised Design.” Beginning in 2019, Improvised Design was set up to provide teams, leagues, and individuals a way of capturing moments within their sim-racing career to the highest quality possible. Each image is edited manually pushing that extra step to bring images to life. “From the very beginning Lionheart has been very conscientious of its identity as well has its history,” Anzaldo said. “With this partnership, we will be able to capture important moments from our races. Being able to show off amazing images all season long as well as preserving our history is extremely important to Lionheart. Working with Improvised Design was the way to make that a reality.” "I look forward to working closely with Lionheart Racing Series, I feel that that this partnership will be a positive one providing the league with a way to look back on past races in all their glory," said Improvised Design owner Elliot Roberts. "Lionheart Racing Series has stood the test of time now entering their eight-season and I am eager to be a part of this expanding into Oval racing." Improvised Design will capture 5 high resolution photographs from every race in both series beginning with the Retro Series season opener at Homestead. A total of 185 Images are set to be completed during the 2020 season giving members and fans the best photographs in league history. For more information and to contact Improvised Design for your own Sim Racing photographs visit @byimprov for Twitter and Instagram. You can also reach them via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/improviseddesign Improvised Design's portfolio https://www.flickr.com/people/improviseddesign  Connor Harrington made a statement Wednesday night.
The second year driver in the Lionheart IndyCar Series presented by First Medical Equipment captured his second-career victory after a thrilling battle with Chris Stofer and Joe Hassert over the final laps of the First Medical Equipment 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “What a great race,” said Harrington. “Chris really made me earn that one.” Harrington is among a handful of championship favorites coming into the season, in a year in which the title is seemingly wide-open. Two-time defending series champion Adam Blocker missed the event due to his real-life IndyCar work commitments, while multi-time championship runner-up Dan Geren is taking a year off from competition. “Chris and I, I think we read each other's mind at the start of the race and we were able to build a lead,” said Harrington, who led 41 laps. “I think Chris was probably the better car tonight. But it was about timing as to who was out front, whoever got lucky. I ended up with the lead on the final restarts and that made the difference.” The race ran caution-free for over 90 laps, allowing Harrington and Stofer to distance themselves from the field. But a pair of late-race cautions set up an intense battle over the closing laps between Harrington, Stofer and Hassert. “I was happy to bring it home second,” said Stofer, who led a race-high 71 laps. “I was happy for (Harrington) to win. I have to thank him for working with me.” The race saw incredible hype following the announcement that hardware manufacturer HyperX had joined as the presenting league sponsor and official gaming peripheral partner of the Lionheart Racing Series powered by HyperX. Big Joe Hassert, always strong on ovals and at Homestead-Miami Speedway, finished third, a spot he ran in for much of the event. ”I just got stuck behind the swap-draft, I tried to get a few runs but my car got too tight,” Hassert said. “Chris and Connor really made it tough. I kinda got boxed in at the end there and pushed off four, I was trying to get second at least. We’re off to a good start.” Brian Yaczik and series debutant Joshua Chin rounded out the top five. Brian Beard captured his first-career pole and led eleven early laps before being involved in the first caution on lap 18. Beard recovered to finish eleventh, but eight of the 37 entrants saw their race come to an end, including former race winners Justin Weaver, James Krahula and Scotty Johnson. The second caution flew on lap 120 when teammates Ken Hacker and Dustin Wardlow collided in turn three following a miscommunication. George Sandman stayed out while the rest of the field hit pit road for fresh tires. On the ensuing restart, Harrington and Stofer both got around Sandman. One lap later, Brandon Limkemann and rookie Arjuna Kankipati made contact on the back straight, bringing out the final caution and setting up a 4 lap sprint to the finish. Sandman’s gamble backfired when he was hung out on the top line with two laps to go, plummeting to 15th. The back half of the top ten included rookie Richard Hollyday, championship contender Andrew Kinsella, Jason Galvin, Joe Branch and Stephen Laarkamp. 19 drivers finished on the lead lap. It was an excellent debut week for the Lionheart Racing Series powered by HyperX, as the newly founded Lionheart Challenge Series ran caution-free in a non-televised event Thursday. Dylan McKenna led 60 laps en route to winning the inaugural race in the new development series, aimed at getting drivers laps with the same setups and tracks raced in the Lionheart IndyCar Series presented by First Medical equipment. The Lionheart Retro Series presented by DMLC Racing Channel is next to kick off its season. The Lotus 79 series opens up at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the DMLC Racing Channel Grand Prix of Homestead. The race can be seen Thursday, March 19 at 10:35 p.m. EST live on the iRacing eSports Network with production from Global SimRacing Channel. The next event in the Lionheart IndyCar Series presented by First Medical Equipment is set for Wednesday, March 25. The Ascher Racing Grand Prix at the Glen can be seen live on the iRacing eSports Network at 10:35 p.m. EST, with production again from Global SimRacing Channel. The wait is over. The clock reset. The road to LH10 starts now. With the 2019 season now a distant memory, the cars and the stars of the Lionheart Racing Series powered by HyperX roar back to life for another championship run, and another season of thrilling wheel to wheel action. The 2020 campaign will be the series 8th full season as the league races forward towards its 6th year of operation. Last year the league celebrated LH5 during its 5th year and 2020 is the start of the next chapter for Lionheart.
While drivers have enjoyed a 3-month separation from competition, the administration team remained full throttle during the off season renegotiating with sponsors as well as bringing on new ones. Most notably is the newest and biggest in Lioheart history, which sees HyperX, a leading manufacturer of gaming hardware become the title sponsor to the series and Official Gaming Peripheral Partner of Lionheart. The official endorsement of HyperX by the league is the first of its kind as Lionheart continues its steady growth each and every season. Returning back for a 5th and final time as presenting sponsor to Lionheart’s crown jewel is First Medical Equipment. Coined by First Med’s very own and Synergy Motorsports driver Brandon Limkemann as “The Victory Lap Tour”, will see the title sponsorship vacant after the 2020 season for the first time in years. “Its definitely going to be really different after this year,” Lionheart founder Jorge Anzaldo said. “First Medical Equipment has done so much for the league and all of its drivers, their support certainly helped make this league what it is today. Our goal now is to put on the best possible show for their last ride.” Familiar big names return again in 2020 in support of the series. SimXperience is once again offering their amazing AccuForce Pro V2 Direct Drive wheel system to the IndyCar season champion. Lionheart currently has over 15 drivers competing with the powerful AccuForce. Darin Gangi who is also the Director of Sales and Marketing for SimXperience will also compete in the 2020 IndyCar Series for the first time. Pat Dotson, Lead Product Designer and Mechanical Engineer for SimXperience will compete in the Lionheart Retro Series Presented by DMLC Racing Channel. ButtKicker is also back as presenting sponsor to the Rookie of the Year award, Oval Championship and all new Triple Crown Championship. ButtKicker Gaming products will provide 9 prizes to drivers across the Lionheart Racing Series. Winners of the ButtKicker Rookie of the Year in both the Lionheart IndyCar Series and Lionheart Retro Series will have the choice of a ButtKicker Gamer2 or ButtKicker Simulation Kit. Minus 273 also returns again for a 2nd straight season offering 8 of their karting gloves as prizes. New for 2020 will see the series schedule reduced by 5 rounds over 2019, however the series has brought back a true Triple Crown for Season 8 by making them all 500 miles in length. This will be the first time Lionheart has ever done a 500-mile event other than Indianapolis and will also see Michigan replacing Pocono as the first leg of the “big three” for 2020. Perhaps the biggest news around the paddock is returning champion Adam Blocker is set to miss several races this year due to his new position with Ilmor Engineering. Blocker who won 11 races last year is still certainly a threat for several more victories in 2020. Blocker, currently tied with 3-time Champion Jake Wright with 20 wins is just 1 win away from becoming the all-time leader in wins. Lionheart has also brought on several rookies for 2020. Adam Frazier, Arjuna Kankipati, Richard Hollyday, Darin Gangi, Scott Holmes and Josh Chin. All these drivers are definitely not rookies to sim racing but rather entering their first season in Lionheart. All possess a tremendous amount of talent and should pose a threat for multiple race wins this season. The Team championship, with new presenting sponsorship by HyperX, is shaping up to be the most intense ever with a total of 11 three car teams battling for the Team Championship. Synergy Motorsports, Adrenaline Motorsports and Loud Pedal Motorsports round out the series full 6 car organizations for the Organization Championship. Adrenaline who has enjoyed several championships in dominating fashion will certainly have a real challenge this season to secure their 3rd straight in as many seasons. Round 1 of the 2020 Season kicks off March 11that 9:35 pm CST at the virtual Homestead Miami Speedway. The action will be brought to you live on the iRacing eSports Network courtesy of broadcast partner Global Sim Racing Channel Competition. Commitment. Excitement. This is Lionheart!  The Lionheart Racing Series will enter a new era in 2020 by announcing that HyperX, a leading manufacturer of gaming hardware, is now the title sponsor and Official Gaming Peripheral Partner of the racing series.
The Lionheart Racing Series powered by HyperX utilizes iRacing simulation software and features three fixed-setup open-wheel series competing in over 50 events during the 2020 season. “I am beyond excited and proud to announce this partnership with HyperX,” Lionheart founder Jorge Anzaldo said. “Our admin team has long had a vision of growing Lionheart to the point where we could offer value in a partnership with a major gaming company. The fact a brand as recognized as HyperX saw the value in partnering with Lionheart is simply amazing.” “HyperX is excited to partner with Lionheart Racing and support the growth of on-line racing,” said Kitty Nguyen, HyperX sponsorship specialist. “We’re honored to come aboard as the title sponsor of the Lionheart Racing Series.” Fans and drivers alike will be able to take advantage of a 15 percent discount on HyperX products on hyperxgaming.com using promo code LIONHRT15. Activities will debut during the opening event of 2020, the First Medical Equipment 200 at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway is set to take place Wednesday, March 11 and streaming live on the iRacing eSports Network. The broadcast start time is set for 10:35 p.m. EST. Drivers in both the IndyCar and Retro series will be outfitted with HyperX Cloud Alpha gaming headsets during the season, as well as the Lionheart Indianapolis 500, set for Sunday, June 28. Throughout the season, drivers will have a chance to win other HyperX hardware, including products like HyperX FURY RGB SSD, Alloy Elite RGB Keyboard, FURY Ultra RGB Mouse Pad and Pulsefire Surge RGB Gaming Mouse. “I have a HyperX SSD at the heart of my gaming PC,” Anzaldo said. “I’m not the only league member who turned to HyperX when building their computer. The computer for a sim racer is as important as the motor for a real racer; a performance PC helps you win. That’s why we use the best, and that’s why we’re now partnering with the best.” Founded in 2014, the Lionheart Racing Series powered by HyperX races in honor of the late Dan Wheldon - known by the Lionheart moniker to his closest fans - and continues to race on with the same spirit Wheldon had: race hard, but race the right way, and most of all, have fun doing it. Lionheart Racing Series is a premier private open-wheel racing series in eSports, set to help redefine the way private eSports leagues build relationships with major gaming companies. The series has become known for its close racing, family-like atmosphere, professional broadcasts with partner Global SimRacing Channel, and organization that is second to none in the sim racing community. Every race in the Lionheart IndyCar Series presented by First Medical Equipment and Lionheart Retro Series presented by DMLC Racing Channel event can be watched live via a professional broadcast stream on the iRacing eSports Network. In 2019, the Lionheart IndyCar Series presented by First Medical Equipment and the Lionheart Retro Series presented by DMLC Racing Channel awarded over $16,000 combined in valued and cash prizes, including sim racing equipment, apparel, racing art and collectibles. The series has also partnered with charitable causes and annually holds races in honor of organizations supporting cancer patients and mental health awareness, as well as veterans and first responders. In six years, the league has grown to include many members, including some that have experienced success at or around the track in real life, including current IndyCar driver Sage Karam, retired IndyCar race winner Richie Hearn, three-time Lionheart champion and current Ilmor Engineering IndyCar Trackside Support Engineer Adam Blocker, SCCA winner Ryan Otis, motorsports graphic design artist Tyler Graaf and national motorsports broadcaster Jason Galvin. About HyperX HyperX is the gaming division of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the world’s largest independent memory manufacturer, with the goal of providing gamers, PC builders, PC, console and mobile power users with high-performance components. For 16 years, the HyperX mission has been to develop gaming products for all types of gamers – high-speed memory, solid state drives, headsets, keyboards, mice, charging accessories for console players, USB flash drives, and mousepads – to the gaming community and beyond. The award-winning HyperX brand is known for consistently delivering products that deliver superior comfort, aesthetics, performance, and reliability. HyperX gear is the choice of celebrity ambassadors, pro gamers, tech enthusiasts, and over-clockers worldwide because it meets the most stringent product specifications and is built with best-in-class components. HyperX has shipped over 65 million memory modules, 10 million gaming headsets and one million keyboards worldwide. Whatever your skill level, whatever genres you play, HyperX embraces all gaming enthusiasts everywhere with our core belief — We’re All Gamers. For more information or to shop the entire line of HyperX products, visit www.HyperXGaming.com. |
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