 In the real world, the scenic hills of upstate New York are just now shedding their winter snow fall. In iRacing, those hills are about to be alive with sound of Cosworth DFV’s screaming up through the Esses and down into the Carousel. It is time for the Lionheart Retro Series’ Clipping That Apex Grand Prix at the Glen!
Last time out it was Adam Blocker finally conquering a Superspeedway for the first time in his Lionheart career. The hottest driver from the second half of last season remained hot by taking the opening round victory over Duston Wardlow and Andrew Kinsella at the ButtKicker 200 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Ryan Otis came home 4th with Jesse Vincent rounding out the top 5 in his return to competitive Lionheart action. From the high banks of Homestead to the rolling hills of upstate New York, the Retro drivers face a completely different challenge in round two, but don’t be surprised if the leaderboard remains familiar. Adam Blocker won 3 times on road courses last season and was ever present near the sharp end of the field since his debut midway through last season. Ryan Otis also grabbed 2 road course wins, including here at Watkins Glen last season, as he dominated the field, starting on pole and leading the most laps, including normal road course king Jake Wright. Speaking of Wright, the defending series champion had a quiet race at Homestead coming home with an 8th place finish. Look for Wright to be closer to the front in Round 2. A dark horse to watch out for is Dustin Wardlow, last week’s 2nd place finisher is a quietly good road course driver, and if he can stay out of trouble early, look for him to be poised for a good finish at the end. One thing that everyone will have to deal with is an increased race distance for all road events in the Lionheart Retro Series. This event as well as all other road events have been increased to 125 miles for the 2018 Season in an effort to promote more pit strategy and push the drivers focus and skill even further. The race this season is sponsored by Clipping that Apex. Clipping That Apex provides the finest in quality hand-drawn motorsports art. They hold a special place in the heart of every Lionheart driver, after Clipping That Apex produced a custom piece of artwork of the late Patrick Taylor. These prints were limited to just 81 and are still available via his website, www.clippingthatapex.com. Clipping That Apex is providing a promo code for 15% Off for all viewers: LIONHEART18 for anything on their site, including the Patrick Taylor piece. Adrenaline currently leads No Name Racing by 30 points in the Team Championship presented by Clipping That Apex on the back of podiums from Blocker and Kinsella. As the schedule shifts to the road, will the balance also shift away from Adrenaline? As the winner of round 1, Adam Blocker currently sits atop the championship standings 6 points over 2nd place Dustin Wardlow. The Grand Prize for the 2018 Retro Series Presented by HPP Simulation is a 3P-PRX-SE pedal set valued at $1,395. The big question of the season is who will take these beauties home? Will it be the defending champ? Last years runner up? Our round 1 winner? Or another dark horse waiting in the wings to scoop up the prize? The Clipping That Apex Grand Prix at the Glen will be broadcast live on Thursday April 5th at 10:35pm eastern on GSRC and iRacing Live.
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