Skip to content

Lionheart IndyCar Series iRacing Iowa Race Report

lionheart indycar iracing

The Lionheart IndyCar series in iRacing is pure racing, speed and precision. This High level series produced another fine race and victory at Iowa.

With the Lionheart IndyCar Series racing with the pedal to the metal in iRacing, the series recently visited Iowa. This race was another edge of the seat nail biter that tested the greatest to the limits.  Justin Prince has the full race report.

Maleczka III survives, wins first career LIS race at Iowa

After a heartbreaking loss the previous round, Robert Maleczka III has rallied back to win his first career race in the Lionheart IndyCar Series Presented by ButtKicker at iRacing’s virtual Iowa Speedway.

The Factory Backed driver scored the first win for himself and his organization in the series on Sept. 22 in the Midwest Simulations Iowa 200. Maleczka III was able to put away from his teammate, Alexis Newsome, to get the win.

With the win, Factory Backed became the first team in the series to have a one-two finish this season. Philip Kraus, Andrew Kinsella and Connor Harrington completed the top five.

The victory comes in Maleczka III’s sixth career start in the series.

“This feels great,” said Maleczka III from HyperX Victory Lane. “This is one of the ovals I least expected to win at. Iowa and Twin Ring Motegi (the previous round’s venue) are probably two of my weakest ovals here.

I thought I had a good chance at Texas Motor Speedway or Michigan International Speedway. I did not expect Iowa. I was going to be happy with a top five, but I’ll take the win and the one-two for Factory Backed as well.”

Despite some of the fears entering the race caused by the attrition-filled Lionheart Speedway Series Presented by The DMLC Racing Channel event days prior, the Lionheart IndyCar Series race had very little attrition. The race had just two cautions throughout its 229 laps.

Newsome started on the pole for the event, her first in the series. Since joining the series, Factory Backed had started on the pole four out of a possible six races.

The top 3 on the Podium

lionheart indycar iracing

One of their fellow crossovers from the Speedway race, Barrett Rolph, suffered the first incident of the race when Ron Hacker drifted into his right side pod coming down the backstretch on Lap 18.

Rolph suffered significant side pod and suspension damage with the hit, sending his Dallara IR-18 into the outside wall in Turn 3. Rolph was able to make it to pit road without triggering a caution flag.

Meanwhile, Newsome ran away from the pack. She was able to break away from Maleczka III and Joshua Chin by 20 car-lengths by Lap 23, setting a blistering pace. Traffic started hampering the leaders by Lap 25, compressing the lead down to a few tenths of a second in the span of five laps.

On Lap 59, Maleczka III decided to undercut his teammate. Newsome was held up significantly the following lap, handing the lead to Maleczka III by a couple of seconds.

Moments later, the first caution of the night came out when Tony Showen slowed down to pit down the middle of the backstretch. He was immediately rammed into by Jason Galvin. Then, as Showen continued into Turn 3, Mike Rasimas hit his left rear tire, sending Showen hard into the outside SAFER barrier.

The caution led to a majority of the field having to take a wave-around to remain on the lead lap. Maleczka III remained the leader the rest of the way, with only one other major incident.

Chin, who had been a front-runner much of the event, had suffered damage after contact with Ricky Hardin at one point during the event. By Lap 176, there was a bottleneck of traffic behind Chin for sixth place.

Shortly after Henry Bennett cleared Chin, the pack of seven cars reached Hardin down the front stretch. Chin attempted to use Hardin as a pick, trapping Bennett along the outside line behind him.

Bennett then arched hard into Turn 1 to get past Hardin, coming into contact with Calisto. Calisto just barely avoided giving damage to Newsome, who was trying to lap the pack.

Bennett and Calisto then collected Adam Frazier and Jason Brophy, slamming their cars into pieces along the top of the corner. Seconds after the cars came to a stop, Bennett let his machine roll down the banking into the path of Tyler Graaf.

Next, the Lionheart IndyCar Series Presented by ButtKicker travels to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the Patrick Taylor Memorial Grand Prix of Mosport Presented by Clipping That Apex. Coverage starts at 4 p.m. ET on RaceSpot TV and ESTV on Oct. 6.

About iRacing

Drive officially licensed car replicas engineered from the ground up in cooperation with real-world race teams, applying accurate mechanical and dynamic models.

Go head to head with real drivers all over the world thanks to our skill-based matchmaking and license progression system ensuring competitive racing at all levels.

Race on your own or with a team featuring driver swaps in addition to crew chief and spotter positions!

Whether you want to experience a NASCAR Cup car, a World of Outlaws Sprint car, an open-wheel IndyCar, an Australian Supercar, an IMSA Prototype or Touring Car, or the ultimate: an FIA Grand Prix car, iRacing’s online racing simulations offer them all. All you need is a computer equipped with one or more USB ports, and a digital wheel/pedal, or a gamepad backed by a high-speed Internet connection. iRacing does the work for you by organizing and managing more than 80 official racing series, or you can choose to race in more than 400 private leagues or launch your own hosted events.

 

Tags:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Darren Buckner

Darren Buckner

Darren became a member of Simrace247 in January 2021 and has been a valuable addition to the platform ever since. He began his journey as an Editor and has progressed to the position of Editor in Chief, owing to his unwavering commitment and hard work. With his profound interest in motorsport and gaming, Darren is passionate about sharing news and exceptional content with like-minded people worldwide.View Author posts