Lionheart Speedway Series iRacing Pocono Race Report

Round 4 of the Lionheart Speedway Series in iRacing visited Pocono for another great showdown. Here is your race report.

The sound of the Lionheart Speedway Series in iRacing revved up to round 4 at Pocono recently. Here we have the full race report from this great series, the GRAAFix Esports Pocono 300 is ready. Before we get to the main report, I would like to thank those that have sent messages about how they have been enjoying these reports.

Written by Darren B of simrace247.com

Qualifying Top 5 On The Grid

1. #3 Wagner: 41.455
2. #25 Hawkins: +0.001
3. #29 Coogan: +0.013
4. #31 Showen: +0.013
5. #8 Taylor: +0.014

The GRAAFix Esports Pocono 300 Is A Go!

Here we go, the speedway series has a 40 car lineup that is ready with 120 laps of action. As usual, the pace car controls the field before the full on assault of noise and speed fills the air at Pocono. Green flag lets go, what a sight to see all of these cars. Wagner enters T1 out front but is immediately challenged going into T2 by Coogan who takes the lead, a clean opening lap by the whole field. Wagner fights back at the start of lap 2 with Hawkins in P3, Showen in P4 and Malone passing Taylor for 5th.  Coogan fights back, with Wagner and Hawkins applying maximum pressure. Demaegd has made a great start and moved up 4 places since the start and takes P5. Hawkins passes Wagner for P2, we are in for a brawl.

Yellow Flag On Lap 7

Musselman darts to the inside of Carter at T1 to go for a move after getting a good draft, where the two cars make contact sending Musselman into a spin and luckily not collecting any other cars. the pace car, as usual, controls the field under the yellow flag.  We start to see some cars pull into pit road, to brim the fuel tanks, every drop counts.  At the end of lap 9, the pace car pulls in and we are green flag racing once again. Coogan hits the loud pedal and the field builds up speed once again, Hawkins takes the lead but Coogan is having none of it as he fights back. Showen starts to push his way back up the leaderboard and is sitting in P3. Anzaldo and Gibson make contact, you could have bet your last dollar it would have been a massive wreck but both drivers keep their cool. Gibson gets a drive through penalty for that incident.

Meanwhile, Team simrace247 driver Nunez is right in the thick of the action in P17 where a huge group of cars are all in close proximity. Showen keeps the great momentum going and takes the lead. The battle for sixth rages on as Taylor, Fowler, Forsythe, Malone, Rigney and Sanders are all very close. Wagner and Hawkins are switching places for P3 as they suss eachother out and look for weak spots, Demaegd is holding station in P5 with a perfect view of what is going on.

 

Yellow Flag Lap 25

Turn 3 sees a big crash, Galaz has net code issues next to Hysong, sending him into a spin and across the track as Carter has nowhere to go smashing into them. A huge majority of the field decides to come down pit road on lap 28 under yellow. The start of lap 30 brings out the green flag and we are back to racing, Demaegd opted to stay out under the yellow and leads the pack. Showen is pushing his way back up the leaderboard and sits in P5, with Degroot, Fowler and Taylor ahead of him. Degroot kisses the wall on lap 33 and falls back to P9, Coogan is pushing hard and moves up to P3, Forsythe is also making good moves as he is in P7. Coogan takes the lead as he sweeps past Demaegd, Wagner moves up to P2 as he passes Taylor, it’s getting feisty! Demaegd pits in and Taylor boxes on the next lap. Forsythe keeps making up positions and moves up to P5, with Hacker going with him sitting in P6.

Contact Lap 43

Showen and Hawkins collide with eachother on lap 43 after a great race thus far, fortunately, they do not collect and other cars as they pull over to the inside of the track, we stay green flag racing. Footage shows Hawkins’s car drift up the track on the banking and veers into the car of Showen. Hacker and Forsythe are having a great race as they sit in P3 and 4, with Coogan in the lead and Wagner in chase. Nunez has been hitting the afterburners and is in P8. The biggest position gainer thus far is Oster who has made up 20 places and sits in P10.

Top 10 At Lap 51

1. Coogan
2. Hacker
3. Wagner
4. Forsythe
5. Malone
6. Wood
7. Rigney
8. Nunez
9. Sanders
10. Oster

Hacker takes the lead on lap 53 with the top 5 within 0.3 of a second, Coogan fights back, and Hacker lines it up and makes the move. Will they work with eachother for now to get some air between P3? Nunez pits at the end of lap 56 after a great run, meanwhile, Coogan retakes the lead, but both pit in at the end of lap 58, with Wagner boxing at the end of the next lap. Forsythe leads and the pit stop shuffle begins. Nunez is up to P3 after the shuffle up, the undercut has worked well for him. Oster after having a great fight and race, gets a penalty for speeding too soon after leaving pit road. Hacker passes Nunez and Degroot and puts him into P2, Nunez puts the move on Degroot and moves up to P3, great stuff from our driver. Wagner and Wood pass Degroot as his tires start to fade. Meanwhile, back at the front Hacker has a slight lead over Coogan by 0.4.

Degroot boxes in at the end of lap 72 after the tires cannot give any more benefit. Coogan strikes for the lead, Hacker fights back as lapped cars are in the mix. Nunez is keeping himself within range of the leaders with Wagner, Wood, Forsythe and Malone in chase. Wagner makes the move on Nunez, who then pits in. Hacker and Coogan keep switching positions on this clean run of green flag racing. Lap after lap we see the drivers shuffle up positions as we then start to see them come into the pits with 32 to go. Once again we start to see the pit stop shuffle, as Wagner, Forsythe and Malone stay out.

Nunez leads by doing the undercut but will have to box again between now and the chequered flag. Wagner in P4 after pitting has the net race lead, with Coogan, Forsythe and Hacker on a charge. Malone and Wood are about to come to the party, this is close stuff with the net front runners. Nunez pits in with Degroot out front, who will need to pit in. A battle is raging with Forsythe and Coogan, they are driving really hard and not giving an inch to anyone, Degroot boxes.

Wagner leads with 20 to go, this race is about to get to boiling point, it has that feel in the air, great racing! Wood takes P4 from Malone with a swift move, this race is turning furious. Coogan and Forsythe are reeling in Wagner, has Wagner done a touch of fuel saving and timed it well at this stage of the race? Coogan takes the lead, Forsythe passes Wagner, Forsythe keeps the momentum going and goes for the lead, Coogan fights back, Forsythe fights back, Wagner is lurking and passes Coogan.

10 To Go

What a great race that is going on, Sanders passes wood for P4, the race is now a bare knuckle brawl. Forsythe is slowly stretching out a marginal lead of 0.4 as Coogan works his way up to P2 but Wagner fights back, this is all working to the advantage of Forsythe as the drivers behind start fighting. The pace is so hot as Wagner has a massive slide and Sanders pinches his pocket to move up to P3, Forsythe is running away with it up front. Wood passes Wagner on the final lap with Coogan driving the widest car on the track as he does everything to keep sanders at bay.

The GRAAFix Esports Pocono 300 winner is!

Craig Forsythe has won the race after an impressive victory, we know it was all happening behind, but he worked his way out front to maintain a great pace. speaking in HyperX victory lane ” I got lucky earlier as my car spluttered into pit lane” noting the car was running on fumes. After the pitstop, ” I knew I was in with a shot, providing i could get the passes made out on track” Forsythe goes on to mention.