 Another season draws to a close and another championship shall be decided at Auto Club in the Lionheart Championship 250 presented by Dewars Candy . The 2 mile super speedway has been home to the Lionheart Series finale since the league was formed back in 2014. Jesse Vincent won the first ever Lionheart Season championship back in 2014 in the DW12 over Richard Behr by just a single point. Last year, in the inaugural Retro Series season, it was Jake Wright, closing things out with a 4th place finish to take the championship over Ryan Otis.
This season is much closer than last. The 2 contenders this season are Adam Blocker and Alex Saunders, and are separated by just 9 points. Saunders has found victory lane 8 times in 2018 to Blocker’s 5, but Blocker has 14 top 5’s to Saunders’ 11, giving the Carolina driver a slight edge heading into the finale. Blocker has been a fierce competitor all season and has capitalized in those instances where Saunders has made mistakes. Its moments like this that differentiates drivers from champions. Saunders will do anything but laydown when it comes to fighting for the championship. Blocker and Saunders have been on the podium together for a total of 7 races, and it is highly likely that a win will be needed to secure the championship one way or the other, with double points on the line for the final leg of the Triple Crown. They are fighting for prize fit for a king, with HPP awarding the season champion their top of the line 3P-PRX-SE hydraulic pedal set valued at nearly $1400 dollars. Meanwhile, other story lines continue to fascinate. While they have no chance at the title, just 91 points separate 5th place Justin Weaver from 14th Scott Johnson. With prizes paying down to 10th, these drivers will have everything to race for, and could prove to be a foil in the championship as they race for their own prizes. The team championship will also come down to the final event. Currently Raven Motorsports leads by 88 over 8 Ball Motorsports. Raven dominated the team championship standings all season until 8 Ball had an impressive running at Indy putting the pressure on Raven and tightening the championship down the stretch. If 8 Ball can capitalize on the double points at Auto Club they certainly would have an opportunity to steal the championship from Raven. Adrenaline does still have a mathematical chance at the championship, but will need a significant swing in fortunes for both 8 Ball and Raven. The cleanest driver will also come down to the finale with Lanini and Reiman being separated by just 4 incident points. One crash either way could be all it takes to flip this award and the prizes that go with it. Iron Man standings going into the finale are being led by Adam Blocker with a total of 2,765.90 miles completed on the season. The full 2019 schedule will be released at the end of the finale. The Series will be looking to add new drivers in the off season as many of the drivers from the 2018 season are looking to run exclusively in the IR-18 for 2019. The Challenge Series will again be running during the off season. Each year the series brings new cars and tracks together in a 10-race series to give the members a “challenge” while also using it as a tool to gauge new drivers looking for roster spots for the upcoming season. This season the series will use the Nissan GTP-ZXT and have its opener on 12-27 at ISM Raceway. Many changes are arriving to Lionheart in the off season. New rules package for 2019 along with a confirmed new series. New for 2019 the Lionheart Renault Series featuring the FR 2.0 will be home to 15 rounds and be used as part of the leagues new ladder system being established to keep drivers active as they work towards an eventual seat in IR-18. Tune in to see who will be crowned champion on Thursday November 29th at 10:35pm eastern only on the iRacing Esports Network presented by GSRC.
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