Diogo Pinto clinches 2024 INDYCAR ButtKicker iRacing Pro Series title at Nashville SS

The 2024 INDYCAR ButtKicker iRacing Pro Series concluded in orderly fashion as Team Redline’s Diogo Pinto claimed the inaugural championship at Nashville Superspeedway on Thursday night. With a 41 point lead entering, Pinto only needed to finish 16th or better to clinch the title, no matter what his opponents in the title fight did in the race. Both Philip Kraus and Edoardo Leo needed a win to have a shot. In the end, it didn’t even matter.

“It’s awesome,” Pinto exclaimed post-race. “All season, since the Pro Qualifiers, we, as a team, worked very hard to get to this level. At the start, we were not very competitive, and we’re definitely very strong now. I feel good for myself and for my teammates who helped me get here.”

Pinto finished 11th, keeping his car safe from harm, executing a spot-on pit stop under green flag, and maintaining the speed needed to take the title. This, of course, was possible due to the incredible consistency the former Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup champion displayed throughout the season, collecting six-straight top-10 finishes before his first “miss” of the season at World Wide Technology Raceway in the seventh race. He followed up that 14th place finish with a victory the following week at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. From there, it was all about maintaining the points gap he worked to build the entire season, which wound up at 16 points over Kraus at season’s end.

“I just wanted to do my own race, because I knew in normal conditions, I would be fast enough to finish 16th or higher. It was just about executing the race well with a good strategy, and that’s what we did. The pace was not amazing, but it was enough, and that’s what I needed today. Some of my teammates had a decent race, but it’s a shame we didn’t get 1-2… At Gateway, I was thinking a lot about the championship, and I was too conservative, and it didn’t go well that way. I went back to a little more aggressive of a mindset and yeah, it worked out nicely.”

After 10 races, Pinto’s lone victory at Laguna Seca is matched with four top-five finishes, eight top-10 finishes, and an average finish of sixth on the entire schedule, winning over Kraus by 16 points. While Kraus had earned the most points on the oval half of the schedule, Pinto was by far and away the most consistent on the road. Matched with his top-half of the field pace on the ovals, that made the difference in deciding the title.

THE RACE

PRIVATE LABEL Team Hype wasn’t going down without a fight, however, as all four of their drivers qualified in the top-five on Thursday night. Kraus claimed the pole position, earning a bonus point towards his attempt to catch Pinto in points. Josh Chin and Jason Brophy qualified second and third, respectively, while Robert Maleczka III rounded out the top-five right behind Coanda Esports’ Elliott Vayron.

While the championship was over unless something happened to Pinto, there were still other points battles to watch throughout the night. Team Redline’s Gustavo Ariel came into the night in the fourth points position, but lost half of his front wing early on, struggling to maintain pace as the green laps never ended. By the end of the night, Ariel did get the nose replaced on his pit stop, but was three laps down as a result.

That opened the door for his teammate, Florian Lebigre, as well as Apex Racing Team’s Luke McKeown and Maleczka, to fight for the first step off the podium in the final standings. Even further down the standings, the battle for 12th, which is the determined relegation line, was also hotly contested among Coanda Esports’ Michael Romanidis, Drago Racing’s David Toth, Team Redline’s Cooper Webster, and Vayron up front.

There was one caution on the second lap of the race which took out Drago Racing’s Ricardo Rico, Team Redline’s Sam Kuitert, and Team I5G’s Brendan Lichtenberg. After that, the race continued caution-free until the end. Pit stops came around the midway point, and funny enough, all four of the PRIVATE LABEL Team Hype cars opted for different laps to pit.

Chin was the first, pitting exactly at halfway. Maleczka was next, pitting a few laps after that. Kraus waited a bit longer, likely to ensure his rival, Pinto, didn’t lead a lap or fall into a strategy that ended his championship hopes. Brophy stayed out the longest of the four, only outlasted by Satellite Racing’s Adam Crane, the last to pit.

Maleczka took control from Chin with 25 laps to go with Kraus following through a few laps later. Kraus needed to win to have a chance at the title, but as the laps counted down to zero, his chances were dwindling to zero as well. Not having to fight his teammate as hard as he needed to, he settled for second in the race and the title as Maleczka scored his second win of the season, vaulting him from eighth to fourth in the final points. Down at the relegation line, Vayron finished sixth, which was just enough to get him the 12th spot in points by a single point over Webster, who finished 17th.

From the 10th starting spot, Pinto just needed to make sure he made it to the checkers in one piece. He moved into ninth early, around Romanidis, but gave that back at some point later on. Pinto’s pit stop was exactly what he needed it to be—without any issues. Returning to the track, Pinto was challenged by both Crane, on fresher tires, then at the end, by Team I5G’s Jacob Oster, which denied him a ninth top-10.

It didn’t matter. Pinto did exactly what he needed to and can call himself a champion once again, and for the first time as an INDYCAR eSports champion.

INDYCAR ButtKicker iRacing Pro Series results from Race #10 at Nashville Superspeedway are as follows:

INDYCAR ButtKicker iRacing Pro Series points after Race #10 at Nashville Superspeedway are as follows:

1. Diogo C. Pinto, 302
2. Philip Kraus, 286
3. Edoardo Leo, 252
4. Robert Maleczka III, 246
5. Luke McKeown, 237
6. Florian Lebigre, 237
7. Gustavo Ariel, 231
8. Michele Costantini, 214
9. Sam Kuitert, 204
10. Michael Romanidis, 194
11. David Toth, 186
12. Elliott Vayron, 181

For more information on the INDYCAR ButtKicker iRacing Pro Series, visit www.iracing.com/indycar-esports/. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

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