ROAR Electric Off-Road Nationals – First Round Results

After two days of practice and yesterday’s final seeding round, the first qualifying heats kicked off on the sugared Silver Dollar RC Raceway course this morning. The high speeds and high grip levels are making it difficult for everyone to keep their cars rubber-side down, rewarding those who can back down the aggression and calm their nerves for six whole minutes.

With this being a Worlds year (at this track, no less) 2WD and 4WD Modified Buggy are the most popular classes, while the drivers are split between Stadium Truck and 2WD Short Course. Dakotah Phend cut his teeth in the Stadium Truck class with his first ROAR National Championship coming in the stock division several years ago, and he drove his TLR 22T to the top spot for round one with the fastest lap of the race. Just the top four drivers made it by for an 18-lap run in round one; behind that, the spread down to 10th place for the round coming in one lap slower than Phend’s scorching run. Jared Tebo’s prototype Kyosho RT6 was second fastest for the round, nearly 3.5 seconds off of Phend, but then less than a second separated Tebo from Ryan Cavalieri, whose Team Associated T4.2 made it three different trucks in the top three, with Phend’s teammate Billy Fischer just three tenths behind Cavalieri.

Modified Stadium Truck – Round One

1. Dakotah Phend – 18/6:15.722
2. Jared Tebo – 18/6:19.162
3. Ryan Cavalieri – 18/6:19.533
4. Billy Fischer – 18/6:20.108
5. Mike Truhe – 17/6:04.744
6. Tyler Vik – 17/6:10.599
7. Nolan Anderson – 17/6:10.788
8. Kevin Motter – 17/6:12.951
9. Gunnar Rieck – 17/6:15.054
10. Jacob Haas – 17/6:16.455

Ryan Maifield won two consecutive ROAR National Championships in Modified 2WD Short Course in 2010 and 2011, and kicked off his quest for a third title in 2013 with a strong first round performance. Ryan bested TLR’s Dustin Evans by 3.5 seconds in what narrowed down to a battle between the two for TQ – third place, Chad Due, was another 6.4 seconds back. The low turnout for the class opens the door for privateers to make Sunday’s A-Main events – 7th through 10th for the round are all looking for a spot in their first ROAR Modified National Championship finals.

Modified 2WD Short Course – Round One

1. Ryan Maifield – 17/6:10.680
2. Dustin Evans – 17/6:14.235
3. Chad Due – 17/6:20.616
4. Ryan Lutz – 17/6:22.218
5. Cody Turner – 16/6:01.132
6. Tanner Denney – 16/6:15.124
7. Justin Gilkison – 15/6:05.360
8. Josh Hanna – 15/6:27.478
9. Braden Watson – 14/6:01.883
10. JP Richards – 9/5:47.706

The big story in 4WD Modified Buggy surrounded Pre-Worlds double winner Ty Tessmann, who is here with the prototype Hot Bodies D413 (D4 2013 edition – get it?) in its first official race. How well did it work? He absolutely smashed the field by over 5.5 seconds and edged the field for fastest lap by a few hundredths of a second. The battle for second was much closer, with Ryan Maifield’s B44.2 FT crossing the strip less than a second faster than Dakotah Phend and the ancient XXX-4. Former Team Durango driver Carson Wernimont, campaigning a Kyosho RB6 and Team Associated B44.2 as a privateer this weekend, was the only other driver to get by for a 19-lap run.

4WD Modified Buggy – Round One

1. Ty Tessmann – 19/6:11.922
2. Ryan Maifield – 19/6:17.655
3. Dakotah Phend – 19/6:18.517
4. Carson Wernimont – 19/6:19.555
5. Jared Tebo – 18/6:00.724
6. Rick Hohwart – 18/6:02.033
7. Barry Baker – 18/6:03.808
8. Cody King – 18/6:04.050
9. Tanner Denney – 18/6:04.997
10. Curtis Door – 18/6:05.186

Ty Tessmann served notice to everyone that he’s the odds-on favorite for two more national championships and, potentially, next month’s Worlds. In a race filled with the fastest drivers crashing while pushing hard for every tenth of a second, the young Canuck held it together to beat Ryan Maifield by two seconds – the largest gap between any two drivers at the . Maifield edged 2011 National Champion Dustin Evans by less than two-tenths, followed by Evan’s teammate Dakotah Phend – the only rear-motor buggy in the top ten.

2WD Modified Buggy – Round One

1. Ty Tessmann
2. Ryan Maifield
3. Dustin Evans
4. Dakotah Phend
5. Ryan Cavalieri
6. Mike Truhe
7. Ryan Lutz
8. Steven Hartson
9. Jared Tebo
10. Barry Baker

There’s one more round left today before a resort after qualifying finishes for the evening. We’ll report back after the second set of qualifying heats!

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