LIONHEART RACING SERIES
  • Home
  • Open Wheel
    • 2023 Standings >
      • Rookie Standings
      • Team Standings
    • Historic Standings
  • Lotus 79
    • 2023 Standings >
      • Rookie Standings
      • Team Standings
    • Historic Standings
  • Sportscar
    • 2023 LMDh Standings >
      • Team Standings
    • 2023 GT3 Standings >
      • Team Standings
  • Speedway
    • 2022 Standings >
      • Rookie Standings
      • Team Standings
    • Historic Standings
  • News
  • Sponsors
    • Become a Sponsor
    • HyperX
    • BMW Performance Center
    • ButtKicker
    • Next Level Racing
    • Gomez Sim Industries
    • Guys Games and Beer
  • Contact

karam dominates, takes victory again at watkins glen

3/19/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
​By Justin Prince
 
For the third time in a row, Sage Karam has won at Watkins Glen in dominating fashion.
 
Karam started on the pole and led almost every lap of the ButtKicker Grand Prix at the Glen to score his second Lionheart Retro Series Presented by Simxperience victory in a row.
 
Ryan Otis, Matt Taylor, Aaron Morgan and Mike Rasimas rounded out the top five.
 
“It was a good race for sure,” said Karam, who led 36 of 37 laps. “This track, the draft is so huge, so I really wanted to push the first few laps to try and break that. Once I was able to get above a second lead, I kind of went into trying to save some fuel, but trying to run some fast laps. It was difficult, but I was able to pull out a big lead.”
 
The race could have ended much more differently.
 
Gary Corley, who had been running 23rd place, spun out entering The Boot and flipped upside down into the middle of the track.
 
Karam, who had won the race by more than 14 seconds, just avoided significant contact with the right side of Corley’s car.
 
“Obviously the biggest worry is you have a car spinning in front of you or a couple cars tangled up.,” said Karam. “When spinning or up in the air, you really don’t have any control. You have to pick which way to go and pray … Thankfully we got away with it today.”
 
Taylor, who started on the outside of the front row, had been kept under pressure by Morgan throughout the second half of the race until Lap 28. Morgan would spin after carrying too much speed into Turn 7. He would slide to the left of the track, locking up the brakes while doing so.
 
Morgan would quickly get back up to speed after spinning the tires, but would lose more than 10 seconds and one spot as a result of the incident. The Avatar Auto Racing driver would then go back and forth with Rasimas for several laps before finishing in fourth.
 
“I was kicking myself for the spin, but hey it put on a show,” said Morgan.
 
Otis said it was a good race for him. The two-time champion had held onto second place from the drop of the green flag. It was Otis’s 45th career top five finish in the series.
 
“I think either my races go really well, or they go really, really bad,” said Otis. “I’m always trying to be consistent obviously and put myself into position to win. That wasn’t the case today. Karam just smoked us.”
 
Several other drivers struggled with pivotal mistakes throughout the race.
 
On Lap 6, Isaac Snider would spin coming into the final corner from the Top 10 after clipping the grass on the left side of the track. Snider would then spin, smashing the rear end of his Lotus 79 into the tire barrier. Snider would go on to finish in 25th place, two laps down.
 
Then, on Lap 13, Ariel Alaniz had been running in 13th before clipping the grass entering the boot. Alaniz would slide from the right side of the track into the armco barrier on the exit of the chute. The Independent driver did not finish the race and was scored in 27th.
 
Later on in the race, Thomas Lovelady would also crash in Toe from ninth place.
 
On Lap 31 Lovelady would slide the back tires coming out of the corner, then bobble hard left into the armco barrier. The front nose would immediately be crushed in. Lovelady would then smash the back end of the car against the wall. Lovelady would finish three laps down in 25th place.
 
Overall, nine drivers did not take the checkered flag.
 
“(Watkins Glen) is definitely a little bit draining,” said Otis. “It takes a lot of focus. You can’t have a lot of distractions. It’s definitely taxing. Not physically, but mentally.”
 
Next race, the Lionheart Retro Series Presented by SimXperience will be going short track racing for the KARNOX 175 at Phoenix. It can be seen live on RaceSpot TV and ESTV on April 1st at 10:35 p.m. EST.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    March 2023
    March 2022
    February 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014

    RSS Feed

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONTACT
RESOURCES
MEDIA
EXTRAS

Contact Us             
About Us
FAQ's
Schedules and Calendar
Race Archives
Record Book
Rulebooks
2023 Sponsor Guide
Lionheart News
Retro News Archive
Member Resources
​The Lionheart Racing Series was founded on July 1, 2014 and is the premier IndyCar and Lotus 79 league on iRacing.com. Competition. Commitment. Excitement. This is Lionheart.
​Copyright 2024 Lionheart eSports LLC .
  • Home
  • Open Wheel
    • 2023 Standings >
      • Rookie Standings
      • Team Standings
    • Historic Standings
  • Lotus 79
    • 2023 Standings >
      • Rookie Standings
      • Team Standings
    • Historic Standings
  • Sportscar
    • 2023 LMDh Standings >
      • Team Standings
    • 2023 GT3 Standings >
      • Team Standings
  • Speedway
    • 2022 Standings >
      • Rookie Standings
      • Team Standings
    • Historic Standings
  • News
  • Sponsors
    • Become a Sponsor
    • HyperX
    • BMW Performance Center
    • ButtKicker
    • Next Level Racing
    • Gomez Sim Industries
    • Guys Games and Beer
  • Contact