the green hills of michigan come alive with the roar of the lionheart series

The green hills of Michigan are about to come alive with the sound of V6 power. The Lionheart Series is coming to Michigan International Speedway for the Sim Racers 4 Mental Health 200.

Last time out at Charlotte, Justin Weaver and Connor Harrington put on a show up front. The 2 swapped the lead numerous times over the last few laps, with Harrington using a small mistake to get around Weaver the final time with just 1 lap remaining to take the win. Andrew Kinsella capitalized on the same mistake to finish second, just 0.188 seconds behind Harrington. Weaver would settle for 3rd, while the Adrenaline Motorsports duo of Tony Showen and Joe Branch rounded out the top 5. It was a tough day for points leader Adam Blocker, as the Carolina driver got caught up in the final wreck of the night, ultimately finishing 22nd, 21 laps down. Fortunately for Blocker, 2nd in points didn’t fair much better, as Dan Geren made a mistake and caught the wall just 38 laps into the race. As a result, Blocker maintains his commanding lead in the championship, but the battle for 2nd is heating up. Kinsella is just 35 points behind Geren, with Michael Goodman and Justin Weaver also within shouting distance of 2nd place.

Site of the first ever Lionheart Race, the IndyCar drivers make their annual pilgrimage to Michigan International Speedway. The high-banked oval will be welcome relief from the narrow confines of Charlotte. 4 or even 5 lanes wide in some places, the drivers will have to balance the draft with the need for clean air as the tires fall off.

For drivers strong in the draft, look no further then the top 3 from last week. Weaver, Kinsella, and Harrington are notoriously strong in races like this, where draft and tire fall-off is equally important. Look for these 3 to be up near the top this week as well.

A driver to watch out for is Joe Branch. Branch is one of the best fuel savers in the series; consistently being able to stretch the fuel one or 2 extra laps. At a big track like Michigan, that can be a huge advantage. If we get a long stretch of green flag running, it might just be that Branch will be raising the winner’s trophy at the end of the night.

With routine heavy-weights such as Brian Yaczik and Jason Galvin having down seasons, Big Joe Hassert has been flying the flag for the Loud Pedal Motorports team this season. All 3 drivers, however should not be overlooked at Michigan. Hassert in particular is strong in the draft, and will play a factor on Wednesday night.

Finally, a bounce back race from Dan Geren seems highly likely. Geren has always been strong at Michigan, where the high banks and wide track suits his style. Geren will need a good race if he wants to keep any hope of catching Adam Blocker by season end alive. He will have one eye looking back as well, however, as Kinsella, Goodman and Weaver are coming for him.

The rookie battle saw a bit of a shake-up as Mike Rigney finished 9th, while John Hill, Damon Martinez, and Bryan Carey all finished outside the top 15. This is a battle that will be coming down to the wire, with Martinez only 31 points up on Rigney. From here on out, it is very likely that the most consistent of those 4 drivers will take the crown, which could just give the Hill, the cleanest driver in Lionheart this season.
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Tune in Wednesday September 18th, 2019 at 10:35pm eastern for all the simulated action, only on the iRacing eSports Network presented by GSRC.