2019 Lionheart Season gets ready to kick off with retro series all star event

Before the meal gets underway, there is the appetizer. Before we look ahead to this year’s action, we pay homage to last year’s excitement. For Lionheart, that means it is time for their annual All-Star festivities starting with The Lionheart Retro Series presented by ButtKicker. The All-Star race for the sister Lionheart IndyCar Series presented by First Medical Equipment will take place next week.

A non-championship race, the all-star race is a fun way for the Lionheart drivers to gather back together after a long off-season. Nothing but pride is on the line for these drivers as the compete for the win in this unique format.

This year’s race will be at the brand new Charlotte Roval. With a tight and twisty infield section mated to a flat out, high-banked oval, the Roval is a perfect representation of the challenge the drivers will be facing this season in the L79.

The festivities consist of 3 races; a 34 lap main event, an 11 lap transfer race and the 11 lap shoot-out. In order to qualify directly for the main event, you must have; finished in the top 10 in points, been a race or pole winner in 2018, been named rookie of the year or driver of the year in 2018, been the cleanest driver in 2018, or previously won an all-star race or a championship. This list number 17 drivers for 2019. The remaining 3 spots will be filled with the podium from transfer race, which will kick off Thursday‘s broadcast. These final 3 drivers will bring the all-star main event up to an even 20 drivers.

The field for the transfer race will be made up of the top 3 from the shootout, which takes place the night before, as well as anyone 11th-20th in points not already locked in through other criteria, and any race sponsors for season 3.

The shoot-out will take place the day before the main all-star races, and is for everyone not eligible for the transfer race or main event, and will not be broadcast.

All this means that we will have 20 of the best drivers Lionheart has to offer going head to head. Will one of this year’s new driver be able to go all the way from shoot-out to all-star glory? Or will it be one of the series veterans, the best that last season had to offer taking the crown?

The Lionheart Series certainly wasn’t idle during the 2 month hiatus between season 2 and season 3 either. Eagle-eyed readers may already have noticed that ButtKicker by the Guitammer Company has taken over from HPP as the presenting sponsor of the Retro Series. HPP made the difficult decision to step back from sponsoring the Retro Series this year as the they look to focus on production of their excellent pedals and wheels. The Lionheart Series would like to thank HPP for their support over the last 2 years.

In their place, is a name familiar to Retro viewers, as ButtKicker was our rookie of the year award sponsor last season. ButtKicker products provide sim racers the world over with that missing driver to track connection. Their products work for office chairs and sim rigs alike, and function by moving actual mass producing a haptic emersion experience like no other. The Lionheart Series is very excited to be working with such a fantastic partner as ButtKicker.

As with any off season, their are a lot of new faces, as well as old faces in new place. Look for a full run down of all the latest driver news after the All-Star race.
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The 2019 Lionheart Retro Series All-Star Race presented by Buttkicker will start of the Retro season this Thursday, February 21st, 2019 at 10:35pm Eastern, only on the iRacing eSports Network with GSRC.