​By Justin Prince
 
After finishing in 20th place or worse in three consecutive races, Alexis Newsome has finally rebounded to win in the Lionheart Speedway Series Presented by The DMLC Racing Channel.
 
The Factory Backed driver led 68 of 133 laps in the KARNOX Charlotte 200 Presented by Chris Fowler Racing on Oct. 4.
 
Newsome beat Craig Forsythe by more than eight seconds to take the checkered flag.
 
Luis Gonzalez Nuñez, Trevor Malone and Joe Branch completed the top five.
 
It is Newsome’s third victory of the 2021 campaign.
 
“It feels good to finally break the streak of bad luck and of taking myself out,” said Newsome from HyperX Victory Lane. “I just tried to be careful tonight.”
 
Factory Backed controlled the tempo of the race at iRacing’s virtual Charlotte Motor Speedway early. Newsome and Robert Maleczka III, who started in fourth and fifth place respectively, quickly made their way to the bottom line around the track, riding behind leaders Mike Rigney and Matt Wagner as they fought back and forth.
 
Then, chaos ensued down the backstretch behind them on Lap 11.
 
While battling side-by-side for sixth position, Team RaceVerse Orange driver Caleb Benci pushed up the track into the side pod of Tony Showen. The contact immediately sent the Adrenaline Motorsports car sliding coming out of Turn 2 in front of the pack.
 
After narrowly avoiding Alexander van de Sandt at the top of the track, Showen spun towards the inside lines and into the path of championship contender Matt Taylor. Nick DeGroot, Ron Hacker and Dakota DeMaegd also crashed into Showen, sending Dallara DW12 parts flying across the circuit.
 
The only drivers who did not pit during the caution flag were Wagner and Rigney.
 
Seconds later, the age of the tires proved to be important. With 11-lap fresher tires, Maleczka III and Newsome quickly drove by Wagner and Rigney moments after the restart. By Lap 42, the two Factory Backed cars had pulled away from the rest of the field by more than two seconds.
 
The next caution came out during green flag pit stops on Lap 59. Chris Fowler, who had been running inside the top five prior to his service, was running on his own when he slammed into the outside wall coming off Turn 4. The contact immediately broke his right side pod, pinballing him into the quad oval grass. Then, after bouncing off the ground two times, he decided to park his car on the apron in Turn 1. His car was close enough to other competitors that it triggered the second and final caution of the night.
 
At the time of the yellow, only Newsome and Dean Moll were on the lead lap. Several drivers, including Maleczka III, Forsythe and Nuñez, had to take the wave around.
 
Following the restart, Maleczka III quickly charged past Moll on the inside of the track on Lap 67.
 
Moll was able to keep up with the two Factory Backed cars until Lap 80. While exiting Turn 4, Moll aero-pushed up the track into the outside wall, sending him to the grass. Moll immediately cut through the infield, electing to park his car the rest of the night. Moll went on to finish 16th.

Newsome maintained the lead until Lap 99, when she came in for her final pit stop.
 
Maleczka III then followed up with the biggest mistake of his season so far during his service.
 
When coming around the apron through Turns 1-2, Maleczka III ran towards the edge of the blue line separating it from the racing line. His tires grazed the blue line in the apex of the corner, triggering an unsafe pit exit penalty. Maleczka III was given an in-sim drive through penalty for the mistake.
 
Maleczka III went on to finish in 13th place.
 
Next round, the Lionheart Speedway Series Presented by The DMLC Racing Channel has its final short track race of the 2021 campaign, the HyperX 175 at Richmond at iRacing’s virtual Richmond Raceway. Coverage will begin at 10:35 p.m. ET on RaceSpot TV and can be watched on tape delay on ESTV on Oct. 25.

​By Justin Prince
 
For the second week in a row, Philip Kraus has driven his PRIVATE LABEL Team Hype Black car to victory lane in the Lionheart IndyCar Series Presented by ButtKicker.
 
Kraus won the HyperX Pocono 200 by almost three seconds on Oct. 13 after utilizing a different strategy compared to much of the pack.

Andrew Kinsella, Connor Harrington, Adam Blocker and Joshua Chin rounded out the top five.
 
Kraus has become the ninth different driver to win at iRacing’s virtual Pocono Raceway in the series in nine events.
 
The PRIVATE LABEL Team Hype Black driver elected to try a different pit strategy after Barrett Rolph spun out entering the pit lane on Lap 19. During the caution flag, Kraus stayed out with Jason Brophy, leaving them as the only two drivers in the field not to pit.
 
Drivers were projected to make it 23-24 laps on fuel entering the event, but were expected to try and cut out a pit stop.
 
“It was really an aggressive strategy call, but we had a good start on that short run (at the start of the race). Chin and I got up to about 5th and 6th position when we stalled out while Jason had a lag issue and wasn’t able to make the grid, so he stayed out,” said Kraus from HyperX Victory Lane. “It was pretty straight forward for him to stay out, but I was like, ‘You know what, this could work.’” So I decided to stay out with him. (Brophy) suggested it initially so big props to him for suggesting that.
 
“From there, it played beautifully into our hands the rest of the race. I really gotta thank Jason for making that call for us.”
 
Brophy and Kraus stayed together until Lap 30, when they came in for their scheduled stops. The two drivers elected to swap-draft, trading positions each lap into Turn 1 and into Turn 3.
 
Meanwhile, Andrew Kinsella remained in the spotlight at the front of the field. The Adrenaline Motorsports Red driver, who won at Pocono in Season 6, had started on the pole for the second time in his LIS career. He, along with fellow Canadian Bryan Carey, had dictated the pace at the front of the field for much of the night. The two drivers had combined to lead 40 of the 80 laps.
 
“It was a very interesting race,” said Kinsella. “The car was great for most of the race. It had good settings. During the first stint, I was just cruising. Bryan and I were just trying to save fuel, trying to make the green flag number. Then all the sudden, the caution comes out.
 
PRIVATE LABEL Team Hype, give credit to them. They did some good strategy there. They did some short fills, made their cars really fast for large portions of their stints and helped get Kraus way out front.”
 
The second and final caution of the race came out on Lap 42 when Lionel Calisto bounced off the outside wall coming out of Turn 2. The Sector 5 driver was sent back to the inside of the track, smashing his left-side suspension on impact. He then crawled his car to the access road in Turn 3 before spinning out, triggering the yellow flag.
 
During that caution, Chin and Harrington decided to join Kraus and Brophy on their strategy call by not pitting. Robert Maleczka III and Ricky Hardin also stayed out.
 
Off the restart on Lap 47, the PRIVATE LABEL Team Hype cars quickly swarmed around Hardin. Kraus cleared Hardin through the Tunnel Turn. He then pinched Hardin along the top of the track, allowing Chin to get past him entering Turn 3. Brophy then had to check up hard out of the corner to avoid hitting Hardin, causing him to go four-wide with Harrington, Kinsella and Blocker for fourth place down the frontstretch.
 
By the end of Lap 48, Brophy had been shuffled back to the ninth position.
 
On the next lap, the battles for position got a bit chaotic.
 
After Harrington cleared Hardin entering Turn 1, Hardin took a higher line through the corner. The Sim Racing Merch Esports driver then snapped loose trying to drive across the bumps. Hardin quickly snapped his wheel back to the right, keeping the car straight and avoiding being in Brophy’s path by a few inches.
 
Seconds after clearing Hardin, Carey was trying to set up a pass on Kinsella down the straightaway heading into Turn 2. At the same time, Chris Fowler was able to get to his inside to move past Carey. Carey then proceeded to come across Fowler’s front wing, sending both cars hard into the inside SAFER barrier. Both cars received significant suspension damage from the incident. Carey and Fowler went on to finish in 25th and 26th place respectively.
 
The incident did not trigger a caution flag.
 
Meanwhile, the strategies continued to unfold.
 
The drivers who stayed out during the previous caution period started pitting on Lap 52. Kraus was able to extend his run to Lap 58.
 
As drivers started coming in for fuel, Kinsella decided to try something different. Kinsella stretched his stint to Lap 66.
 
“After that last caution, I knew I had to try something a little bit different,” said Kinsella. “When I saw everyone peeling off like I knew they would have to, I was sure my only shot there was to try to go long and draft up behind the guys who already pitted. I was monitoring my lap times and I had not dropped off too far, so I figured I could get out at least within the draft of all the guys I needed to get out with and it worked out exactly right.”
 
With the pit stop call, Kinsella came out within drafting distance of Brophy. After passing by Maleczka III, Kinsella set his sights on finishing as best as he could. Kraus had broken the draft of Chin, Harrington and Blocker for the net race lead.
 
After squabbling for several laps with Brophy, Kinsella was able to clear him on Lap 72. Then on Lap 75, he drove his way past Blocker by more than 10 MPH down the front straightaway entering Turn 1.

Kinsella then drafted his way up to Harrington and Chin for second place.
 
With two laps to go, Kinsella built up a big run, getting to the inside of Harrington at the start of the braking boards for Turn 1. Chin attempted to defend, but Kinsella was able to quickly swerve and dive his way to the inside of him entering the corner. He was able to clear both Harrington and Chin by the apex of the corner.
 
Next time out, the Lionheart IndyCar Series Presented by ButtKicker heads to iRacing’s virtual Chicagoland Speedway for the Fisch Motors Chicagoland 200. Coverage starts at 10:35 p.m. ET on RaceSpot TV and ESTV on Oct. 20.

​By Justin Prince
 
After a late-race crash collected a majority of the field, Caleb Benci was able to avoid the incident to win his first race in the Lionheart Speedway Series Presented by The DMLC Racing Channel.
 
With 10 laps to go in the GRAAFix Esports 175 at Iowa Presented by Midwest Simulations, Jorge Anzaldo and Tony Showen had been fighting hard for the lead when Anazldo was nudged in the left rear tire while entering Turn 3.
 
The contact from Showen sent the Synergy Motorsports Blue driver sliding up the track into the outside SAFER barrier. As Anzaldo slammed the wall, Showen spun in front of the pack, blocking half the track. Robert Maleczka III, Nick DeGroot, Alexander van de Sandt and Mike Rigney all locked up their brakes, sending them sliding into Showen.
 
Out of the cars who were in the lead pack, only Benci and Joe Branch were able to drive by the incident safely.
 
After the final restart, Benci was able to break away from Charles Teed, Trevor Malone, Samuel Reiman and Branch to give Team Raceverse Orange its first victory as a group this season.
 
“It’s pretty incredible (to win),” said Benci from HyperX Victory Lane. “Coming in, this is just my second race in the series. It’s a pretty big deal. I couldn’t be more happy for sure.”
 
Just nine cars finished the race on the lead lap after several major incidents.
 
Championship points leader Barrett Rolph triggered the first of eight cautions on Lap 9 after spinning across the bumps coming out of Turn 2. He had been trying to charge his way through the pack after starting 16th prior to the crash. Paul Jenkins hit Rolph with the edge of his front wing, sending Rolph’s car sliding into the outside wall.
 
Rolph went on to finish 177 laps down in 25th place.
 
On Lap 22, Chris Fowler made a similar mistake to Rolph in Turn 2. He also slapped loose going across the bumps on corner exit, kicking his car sideways in front of a pack of cars. DeGroot and Dean Moll both made contact with Fowler, launching Fowler’s car into the fencing atop the wall down the backstretch. Fowler flipped over four times to the inside wall, ending his race early.
 
The main championship contenders continued to get tangled up into incidents on Lap 47 when Alexis Newsome was rammed from behind by Chris Stofer entering Turn 1. Newsome drifted down a lane into the path of Ken Hacker, sending Hacker into the wall.
 
After the ensuing restart, the focus started turning towards NEKI Racing Team driver Luis Gonzalez Nuñez. Nuñez, who restarted inside the back half of the Top 10, quickly passed Rigney, Matt Taylor and Anzaldo to get to fifth position. After swap-drafting with Anzaldo for several laps, they were able to catch up to the lead pack of van de Sandt, Jenkins, Branch and Showen.
 
Within three laps, Nuñez was able to drive past all of them to lead his first laps since the season opener in March.
 
Then, Nuñez had his luck run out.
 
As he was exiting Turn 2 on Lap 73, Nuñez spun across the same bumps that had caused two previous crashes. Showen hit his left front wing in the process. The spin relegated Nuñez back to 21st place.
 
During that caution period, rookie Dakota DeMaegd decided to stay out for track position, giving him his first led laps in the series.
 
The Team Raceverse Orange car stayed in the lead until the edge of his fuel window on Lap 109, when DeMaegd spun through Turn 3. DeMaegd’s second race ended when he then slammed into the outside wall, destroying his car.
 
Nuñez rejoined the race conversation again on Lap 147, but not for good reasons.
 
After spinning out on his own on Lap 99 and pitting for significant damage as well as being hit by Newsome under caution, Nuñez spun out again coming out of Turn 2. Nuñez’s car stayed at the top of the track right at the edge of the racing line on corner exit, causing chaos.
 
Taylor, who was battling for fifth position, clipped the edge of Nuñez, sending him sliding sideways in front of Jenkins. Jenkins’s Aero-X car was sent spinning into the inside wall, immediately crushing his suspension. As cars were checking up for Taylor, Alex Guyon was rammed by Ron Hacker, pinballing Guyon to the inside wall as well. Ron was also hit by Branch in the incident.
 
Nuñez was parked for the rest of the race as a result for his third crash.
 
Taylor attempted to continue running with his damaged car the following restart before spinning on his own as well. His spin triggered the caution as a result.
 
In the end, just six drivers did not get an in-sim incident point - Teed, Malone, Branch, Matt Huston and Gary Godsoe.
 
Next up, the Lionheart Speedway Series Presented by The DMLC Racing Channel goes back racing at the bigger tracks for the KARNOX Charlotte 200 Presented by Chris Fowler Racing at iRacing’s virtual Charlotte Motor Speedway. Coverage will begin at 10:35 p.m. ET on RaceSpot TV and can be watched on tape delay on ESTV on Oct. 4.

​By Justin Prince
 
David Rodriguez has done it again.
 
After working with Chris Staples to reel in Craig Forsythe from half a straightaway back, Rodriguez was able to draft past Forsythe on the final lap to win the Karnox Michigan 200 on Sept. 30.
 
It is the RSR Esport driver’s second career Lionheart Retro Series Presented by SimXperience victory in four starts.
 
The finish is also one of the closest in the history of the series. Rodriguez beat Forsythe by 0.015 seconds, the sixth-closest margin of victory ever recorded.
 
Alex Guyon, David Sirois and Jorge Anzaldo rounded out the top five.
 
Rodriguez had qualified in third place for the 100-lap event at iRacing’s virtual Michigan International Speedway. However, he did have to avoid trouble around him early.
 
The only two cautions of the race were caused by drivers battling for the race lead within the first 20 laps.
 
“I really wanted to qualify up front and I thought that was my strategy (to stay up front), but I thought all the wrecks would happen behind me, but they actually happened next to me. I was so lucky to avoid them,” said Rodriguez from HyperX Victory Lane.
 
The first of the incidents Rodriguez had to dodge was on Lap 6, when Danny Roberts and Dustin Wardlow were fighting side-by-side for the lead coming out of Turn 4. When coming off the corner, Roberts slid up into the left side tires of Wardlow, linking them together. Wardlow then slid down behind Roberts, turning him across his front wing. Roberts and his Uncontrolled Chaos car was then sent slamming into the outside wall down the front stretch, narrowly avoiding Rodriguez’s car. He then pinballed back into the right side tires of Isaac Snider. Roberts then spun around in front of Staples, who rammed into his sidepod. The impact launched Roberts several feet into the air, all while other cars collided below him.
 
The accident cycled Rodriguez to the lead.
 
Soon after, the carnage continued.
 
After the field had spread out off the restart, Wardlow and Rodriguez ran side-by-side with Sirois close behind for several laps, allowing the rest of the pack to regain ground. Staples, who had restarted at the edge of the top 10, quickly drove his way back through the field, utilizing the high line to draft off other cars. Guyon also showed he was not afraid to make moves by taking Forsythe and Trevor Malone three-wide for fourth place. Once he caught the back of Rodriguez, Wardlow and Sirois on Lap 14, Guyon immediately attempted to run three-wide beside them for the lead. His momentum kept stalling out by the end of the straightaways, meaning he could never fully pass Rodriguez or Wardlow.
 
As a result, Staples saw his chance to go three-wide himself for the lead on Lap 17. As Guyon was building his momentum back up down the backstretch, Staples drafted off the back wing of Wardlow, allowing him to pull up in front of Guyon by mere inches entering Turn 3. The top line then checked up through the corner, shuffling Guyon back.
 
The next corner was when disaster struck.
 
After regaining ground down the frontstretch, Staples started pinching Wardlow down a half a lane. When the entered the corner, Wardlow’s car bobbled slightly up the track. That bobble was enough to hit Staples’s left side tires, sending Wardlow spinning in front of the entire field. Ricky Hardin immediately hit his left sidepod, sending him back up the track into Robert Mikes. Mikes was then launched off Wardlow’s car into the catchfence, shredding his front wing. He then flipped over several times before landing in the infield grass.
 
Several cars elected to use the yellow flag to refuel, including Forsythe, Guyon and Sirois. Rodriguez was the only lead-lap car who decided not to come down for service during the caution.
 
After the restart, small packs started to form. Rodriguez, Forsythe, Sirois, Guyon and Malone quickly ran single-file, allowing them to gain several tenths of a second per lap over the rest of the field. On Lap 34, Forsythe decided to pass both Rodriguez and Guyon, giving him control of the lead group.
 
However, Rodriguez still had a good strategy window for the rest of the race.
 
After pitting alone on Lap 37, he was able to match the lead pack’s lap times despite having no draft around him. When he did reach other cars, he was able to quickly slingshot past them.
 
When his fellow competitors pitted with under 50 laps to go, Rodriguez was able to pass them on track to retake the lead. It took Forsythe until Lap 63 to reel in and pass Rodriguez back.
 
“I think just running in clean air and running fast laps in front of everyone staying on the lead lap just really helped me with my strategy,” said Rodriguez.
 
Then, after taking his final pit stop on Lap 71, Rodriguez started gaining valuable ground. Like the last window, he used the lapped traffic around him to go up to half a second quicker than Forsythe on the track. Once Forsythe completed his stop on Lap 87, Rodriguez was able to use Staples to draft back to Forysthe.
 
After trying to pass Forsythe around the outside twice, Rodriguez decided to line up behind him.
 
He stayed behind Forsythe until the white flag lap.
 
Coming out of Turn 4, Rodriguez built up a run. He was running three MPH quicker than Forsythe when he decided to jump to the outside line. Forsythe was not able to defend him in time, allowing Rodriguez to pull past his front wing by the time they reached the checkered flag.
 
“I knew that if I just timed it up and stayed behind him waiting patiently, I would get him at the end,” said Rodriguez. “I think I timed it up just right.”
 
After the race, Forsythe admitted he was disappointed. However, he still saw the finish as a victory for him. The Michigan race was just his third top five of the season.
 
“That was a great race. I love this track. It’s such fun racing,” said Forsythe.
 
The next race for the Lionheart Retro Series Presented by SimXperience will be the GRAAFix Grand Prix of Silverstone Presented by SimSnap Photography on Oct. 28. Coverage will begin at 10:35 p.m. ET on RaceSpot TV and can be watched on tape delay on ESTV.

​By Justin Prince
 
For the third time in 2021, Matt Taylor has won in the Lionheart Retro Series Presented by SimXperience.
 
In what turned out to be the 14th-closest finish in series history, Taylor edged Aaron Morgan by 0.038 seconds in the HyperX Gateway 150 at iRacing’s virtual World Wide Technology Raceway on Sept. 2.
 
The dramatic finish came laps after Mike Rigney slammed the wall coming out of Turn 2 while in the lead, crushing his right-front wing. Taylor, Morgan and Chris Fowler had all grouped together after their final pit stops to reel in the gap despite Taylor completing his service with under 15 laps to go.
 
After the incident, Taylor and Morgan swapped the lead several times down the straightaways with Taylor leading into Turn 1 and Morgan into Turn 3. However, on the last lap, Taylor did not fully clear Morgan’s Avatar Auto Racing car, pinning him along the top of the track down the backstretch.
 
Taylor was able to defend along the inside wall coming to the checkered flag to win the race.
 
Fowler, Rigney and David Sirois rounded out the top five.
 
Taylor had been running in the back half of the top 10 prior to his final pit stop.
 
“It was interesting I guess I would say. I absolutely did not expect to be that close to the lead after that final pit stop,” said Taylor from HyperX Victory Lane. “It seemed a bunch of us were stuck back there and it seemed like a bunch of us were. Finally, the car and the track gripped up there at the end of that second stint, but I had absolutely no idea I’d be that close to the front.”
 
Before the bottom line started to gain grip later in the race, much of the field ran single-file behind pole-sitter David Sirois after the only caution of the race occured on Lap 1. The Lavoie Motorsport driver led a race-high 49 laps before coming in for his first pit stop. Drivers like Morgan and Fowler were able to jump past Sirois during the sequence by going longer on their first stints.
 
Meanwhile, Taylor was running in seventh position by the halfway mark.
 
“I was really just waiting,” said Taylor. “I was waiting for that car and track to grip up and switch. I really liked using that bottom line to make moves. I tried it a couple times and it was absolutely not there early on. I felt like I was a little bit quicker, but I couldn’t find the line.”
 
On Lap 63, Rigney was able to make the bottom work. He was able to dive underneath Fowler into Turn 3 to quickly take over the race lead. Rigney pulled away by more than 10 car lengths within 10 laps. He was able to consistently hit lap times which were one second quicker than the rest of the field before electing to pit on Lap 85.
 
That alternative strategy eventually set up the wild finish at Gateway.
 
Next up, the Lionheart Retro Series Presented by SimXperience will be heading to iRacing’s virtual Michigan International Speedway for the KARNOX Michigan 200 Presented by Espo Designs on Sept. 30. Coverage will begin at 10:35 p.m. ET on RaceSpot TV and can be watched on tape delay on ESTV.

​By Justin Prince
 
After a heartbreaking loss the previous round, Robert Maleczka III has rallied back to win his first career race in the Lionheart IndyCar Series Presented by ButtKicker at iRacing’s virtual Iowa Speedway.
 
The Factory Backed driver scored the first win for himself and his organization in the series on Sept. 22 in the Midwest Simulations Iowa 200. Maleczka III was able to put away from his teammate, Alexis Newsome, to get the win.
 
With the win, Factory Backed became the first team in the series to have a one-two finish this season.
 
Philip Kraus, Andrew Kinsella and Connor Harrington completed the top five.
 
The victory comes in Maleczka III’s sixth career start in the series.
 
“This feels great,” said Maleczka III from HyperX Victory Lane. “This is one of the ovals I least expected to win at. Iowa and Twin Ring Motegi (the previous round’s venue) are probably two of my weakest ovals here. I thought I had a good chance at Texas Motor Speedway or Michigan International Speedway. I did not expect Iowa. I was going to be happy with a top five, but I’ll take the win and the one-two for Factory Backed as well.”
 
Despite some of the fears entering the race caused by the attrition-filled Lionheart Speedway Series Presented by The DMLC Racing Channel event days prior, the Lionheart IndyCar Series race had very little attrition. The race had just two cautions throughout its 229 laps.
 
Newsome started on the pole for the event, her first in the series. Since joining the series, Factory Backed had started on the pole four out of a possible six races.
 
One of their fellow crossovers from the Speedway race, Barrett Rolph, suffered the first incident of the race when Ron Hacker drifted into his right side pod coming down the backstretch on Lap 18. Rolph suffered significant side pod and suspension damage with the hit, sending his Dallara IR-18 into the outside wall in Turn 3. Rolph was able to make it to pit road without triggering a caution flag.
 
Meanwhile, Newsome ran away from the pack. She was able to break away from Maleczka III and Joshua Chin by 20 car-lengths by Lap 23, setting a blistering pace. Traffic started hampering the leaders by Lap 25, compressing the lead down to a few tenths of a second in the span of five laps.
 
On Lap 59, Maleczka III decided to undercut his teammate. Newsome was held up significantly the following lap, handing the lead to Maleczka III by a couple seconds.
 
Moments later, the first caution of the night came out when Tony Showen slowed down to pit down the middle of the backstretch. He was immediately rammed into by Jason Galvin. Then, as Showen continued into Turn 3, Mike Rasimas hit his left rear tire, sending Showen hard into the outside SAFER barrier.
 
The caution led to a majority of the field having to take a wave-around to remain on the lead lap.
 
Maleczka III remained the leader the rest of the way, with only one other major incident.
 
Chin, who had been a front-runner much of the event, had suffered damage after contact with Ricky Hardin at one point during the event.
 
By Lap 176, there was a bottleneck of traffic behind Chin for sixth place.
 
Shortly after Henry Bennett cleared Chin, the pack of seven cars reached Hardin down the frontstretch. Chin attempted to use Hardin as a pick, trapping Bennett along the outside line behind him. Bennett then arched hard into Turn 1 to get past Hardin, coming into contact with Calisto. Calisto just barely avoided giving damage to Newsome, who was trying to lap the pack. Bennett and Calisto then collected Adam Frazier and Jason Brophy, slamming their cars into pieces along the top of the corner. Seconds after the cars came to a stop, Bennett let his machine roll down the banking into the path of Tyler Graaf.
 
Next, the Lionheart IndyCar Series Presented by ButtKicker travels to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the Patrick Taylor Memorial Grand Prix of Mosport Presented by Clipping That Apex. Coverage starts at 4 p.m. ET on RaceSpot TV and ESTV on Oct. 6.