Lionheart IndyCar Series iRacing Iowa 200 Report

The 2022 Lionheart IndyCar Series in iRacing continues as round 12 visits Iowa for more great racing.

More great racing from the Lionheart Indycar Series as they recently visited Iowa in iRacing, round 12 is the Next Level Racing Iowa 200.

Written by Darren B of simrace247.com

Top 5 On The Grid

1. #19 P.Kraus
2. #1 Blocker
3. #91 Maleczka
4. #Newsome
5. #45 O’Brien

Another solid grid as 33 cars are geared up and ready for 229 laps, here we go green flag. A clean opening start with everyone getting up to speed and ready to do battle. So far its a single file line of cars with no one wanting to give position or lose speed, Bomersbach moves up to P5. Kraus is trying to break the tow and leads by 1 second. Team Simrace 247 driver Nunez has got Harrington all over the back of him as they battle for P7. Harrington keeps going for the move and Nunez is resisting well as we pass lap 20 with the top 7 on the track covered by 5 seconds.

Lap 30 Top 10

1. P.Kraus
2. Blocker
3. Maleczka
4. Newsome
5. Bomersbach
6. O’Brien
7. Harrington
8. Brophy
9. Nunez
10. Chin

Harrington continues on the offensive, as he picks up more places and applies pressure to O’Brien. O’Brien brushes the wall, Harrington makes his move and makes it count, Harrington up to P5. The stricken car of Newsome is on the infield grass, a technical issue may have been the cause (Fowler confirms she self spun in T4). Kraus is now in the dirty air of approaching lapped cars, he is losing a little time to Blocker, but his time will also come to work his way through them. Maleczka pinches P2 from Blocker who responds, this is going to be interesting as they fight their way through the lapped cars.

Lap 58 sees the pit window now open, who will come in first? Bomersbach and Nunez blink first. Here we go, the front runners start to come in, and the pit stop shuffle starts on the leader board. After all of that service resumes on the leaderboard.

Lap 67 Top 10

1. P.Kraus
2. Maleczka
3. Blocker
4. Bomersbach
5. Brophy
6. Harrington
7. M.Kraus
8. Nunez
9. Van De Sandt
10. Chin

P. Kraus is now starting to extend the gap over Maleczka, Nunez drops to P10 and Harrington continues to climb, and now sits in P5. This phase of the race is crucial, with no time to rest or slacken off. Brophy punches up to P4, Bomersbach drops to P6, and Brophy goes for the move on Blocker for P3, the fight is on. Kraus is pushing hard out front, he is now 4.5 seconds in the lead, we all know when he is in the groove, he is metronomic, Nunez pits in on lap 108.

Lap 111 Top 10

1. P.Kraus
2. Maleczka
3. Blocker
4. Brophy
5. Harrington
6. Van De Sandt
7. M.Kraus
8. Bomersbach
9. Chin
10. Pinheiroo

Bomersbach enters the pits on lap 117 with the window open, this has been a punishing stint on the tires for some. We start to see others from the top 10 starting to come into the pits from lap 123, Yellow flag, Wagner spins out and clips the wall as he is down low on pit entry, the pace car is out, and many drop into the pits. Lap 130 gets the green flag out, we are racing once again.

Maleczka now leads, Harrington is second and disaster on lap 134. Pinheiroo and Graaf collide they spin out, hit the inside wall and bounce back over the track collecting many. Lap 140 gets back to the racing, that crash has nearly taken out half the field, wow.

Lap 141 Top 10

1. Maleczka
2. Harrington
3. P.Kraus
4. Brophy
5. Rigney
6. Chin
7. Beard
8. Sexton
9. M.Kraus
10. Taylor

That crash changed everything for many in the race, back to the racing, we get back up to speed and the drivers will have fewer backmarkers to squeeze through. Chin works his way up to P5, Blocker exits the pits and rejoins in P16. Maleczka is trying to break the tow, he is leading by 1 second over Harrington with Kraus closing in. Kraus makes the move, he has the speed and tires and now takes P2.

P.Kraus enters the pits at the end of lap 185, the other front runners come in and respond 1 lap later, and so forth. Drivers who are on different strategies are making others play the guessing game, this is now a race of strategies, and who can keep the pace. Meleczka leads by 1 second over P. Kraus by lap 200, it’s close and now a charge to the finish, Harrington is 5 seconds back in P3. Can P.Kraus hunt down Maleczka and pass him, or will Maleczka show how resilient he is? The gap is now down to 0.7, with lapped cars now in the mix.

It’s a battle of who can get past the lapped cars quicker, the gap 0.5 with 7 laps to go. Maleczka knows he is there, Kraus is closing. He just needs to keep the pace, and keep calm, can Maleczka win or will Kraus steal his thunder, final lap.

Victory in the Next Level Racing Iowa 200

With the pressure mounting, Robert Maleczka has won the Next Level Racing Iowa 200. A fine example of how to keep your cool. Speaking in HyperX victory lane ” To get back to back wins on the short track at Iowa, its a big shock to me” said race winner Maleczka. He run a great race under pressure from P.Kraus, superb.