 With the 2020 Lionheart Retro Series presented by DMLC Racing Channel season opener in the books the series switches focus from the high-speed ovals to the twisty iconic Watkins Glen International.
Unlike the IndyCar Series the Retro Series drivers will run the Classic Boot configuration eliminating the famous or at times infamous bus stop. George Sandman enters the Round 2 event with the points lead after clamming his first victory of the season in an exciting 3 wide finish. Leading the championship by just 4 points over Ryan Otis, the win marked the 2nd in Sandman’s career. Despite finding some success on the ovals, the road ace has yet to win a road course event in the series. The SimXperience Grand Prix at the Glen will mark the 4th time in as many seasons that the Retro Series has visited the historic track. Each season has produced a new winner and each of those has led every lap enroute to victory lane. Sage Karam is the defending race winner, having won over Ryan Otis by 24.846 seconds which is the 4th largest margin of victory in Retro Series history. Karam is coming off two big wins in the IndyCar at Watkins Glen. After winning the Round 2 Lionheart IndyCar Series race at the Glen, Karam followed it up by winning the IndyCar iRacing Challenge debut against several real-world NTT Data IndyCar Series drivers. This victory could give him the clean sweep as well as being crowned King of the Glen. Tune in this Thursday, April 2nd 2020 to watch the SimXperience Grand Prix at the Glen live on the iRacing eSports Network courtesy of the Global Sim Racing Channel. For more information on the Lionheart Racing Series powered by HyperX visit www.lionheartracingseries.com Race Link https://youtu.be/ZoghNffFKwE
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 George Sandman fired the opening salvo in the battle for the 2020 Lionheart Retro Series presented by DMLC Racing Channel championship.
The second-year driver scored the second win of his career against a stacked field, edging defending champion Ryan Otis by 0.021 seconds to win the DMLC Racing Channel Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “I knew as long as I was prepared for the last couple laps and holding that inside line, they weren’t going to be able to get around me,” Sandman said from the virtual victory lane. The road course veteran has now won twice on ovals in his brief career in the Lionheart Racing Series powered by HyperX. Both victory’s have come in the Retro cars, behind the wheel of a Lotus 79. Sandman also won at Pocono in 2019. “I’m starting to learn some of the oval stuff, this is different for me,” Sandman said. “I never really liked the oval stuff. But I’m starting to enjoy it quite a bit.” After four early cautions, the event ran green to the finish from lap 59. Several leaders encountered pit road issues during green-flag pit stops. By the final 15 laps, just Sandman, Otis and Finian D’Cunha remained to battle for the win. Otis and D’Cunha both jetted to the outside of Sandman in the final 100 yards, but ran out of time. “I can’t complain, there was some crazy stuff going on out there,” Otis said. “Car felt good, felt good in traffic. I had my plan for the finish there, but with Finian there I didn’t really risk it on the last lap. That was great driving by everyone, a lot of fun.” D’Cunha really turned heads, battling from a 29th place starting spot to grab the final podium position. “Needles to say, I definitely need to start practicing qualifying,” D’Cunha said. “I somehow made it through a massive wreck, it was a miracle. I have no clue what my strategy should have been at the end of the race.” Trevor Malone and Mike Rigney completed the top five, after a crash with 18 laps remaining eliminated Greg West and caused Lionel Calisto to spin through the backstretch grass. Calisto recovered to finish eighth. Despite leading just three laps, Otis spent a majority of the race battling for the lead. Polesitter David Clymer appeared to be the favorite, leading a race-high 36 laps, but contact with the damaged lapped car of Ricky Hardin on lap 55 while exiting turn four caused Clymer to slam the inside wall, ending his race. Sage Karam led 35 laps but encountered pit road troubles, along with former series runner-up Alex Saunders. Karam, who was leading when he hit pit road, fell two laps down and finished 15th. Saunders finished one lap down in 12th. A crash on lap 36 changed the entire outlook of the event, at the fault of nobody. Scott McClendon and Bobby Mikes were racing side-by-side for fourth place exiting turn four when a massive net code spin occured, causing Mikes to slide down into McClendon. The ensuing melee eliminated or caused crippling damage to more than a dozen cars. Eleven of the 35 starters finished on the lead lap. 17 cars were running at completion of the event. Eight drivers swapped the lead 31 times. The Lionheart Retro Series presented by DMLC Racing Channel next heads to its first road course event in 2020. The SimXperience Grand Prix at The Glen is scheduled for Thursday, April 2, and can be seen live at 10:35 p.m. EST on the iRacing eSports Network, with Global SimRacing Channel producing the action.  With the long off season behind the Lotus 79 drivers of the Lionheart Racing Series powered by HyperX the stage is set for the beginning of the Retro Series 4th Season. New for 2020 is the presenting sponsor of the Retro Series, the DMLC Racing Channel.
This season will see 35 drivers take the initial green flag on Thursday March 19th, 2020 at the Homestead Miami Speedway for the 4th time in series history. Each season has produced a new winner and the series has yet to produce a 2-time champion at Miami. With Alex Saunders, the 2019 winner the only active driver able to capture this goal, the pressure is all on him. Last year saw some late race fireworks as the defending winner and eventual series champion Otis battled close within the closing laps. The two made contact with Otis losing several positions as the race ended under caution. Homestead traditionally has been a tight and close race in the Retro Series presented by The DMLC Racing Channel, all 3 previous running’s have produced over 20 lead changes with Season 3 having the most (24). This year’s setup looks to produce much of the same as early practice has kept drivers in the pack throughout the fuel run. The series will see a handful of new drivers entering the series and a few familiar faces joining the L79 roster. Michael Gray, Trevor Malone, Tommy Rhyne and Ricky Hardin all with previous starts in the Lionheart IndyCar Series will all look for solid runs this year. Each driver with the exception of Gray has had between 1-3 starts in previous Retro seasons. Scott McClendon, Sam Crowe, Jason Bosse and Doyle Lowrace are scheduled to make their Retro Series debut at Homestead on March 19th. 2020 will see for the first time in league history (IndyCar or Retro) a true 50/50 road-oval split. The 18 round season will feature short ovals, super speedways as well as natural road courses as well as the roval configuration at Indianapolis. The run to the 2020 championship begins at Miami Speeday. The time to make a statement is now. Who will be victorious this year? Round 1 of the Lionheart Retro Series Presented by DMLC Racing Channel kicks off live Thursday March 19th,2020 at 9:35 pm CST on the iRacing eSports Network courtesy of the Global Sim Racing Channel. Race Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVNkLUB1Qzc  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. |