The third round Saturday morning was wild, with big upsets coming in the three classes that were dominated on Friday and the 2WD buggy class seeing its third TQ in as many rounds. With the pressure on all drivers Saturday afternoon to capitalize on the final chance to lower their point totals everything went back to normal – familiar faces on top of Stadium Truck, Short Course and 4WD and yet another heat winner in 2WD in what proved to be the deciding round.
The final Stadium Truck heat was a repeat of what we saw Friday: Dakotah Phend’s red and blue Team Orion-powered TLR 22T led throughout, setting the fastest lap and sprinting off to a two-second cushion on the field. Defending National Champion Ryan Cavalieri was the best of the rest, with five more seconds back to the close battle for third between Billy Fischer and Steven Hartson.
Modified Truck – Round Four
- Dakotah Phend – 18/6:12.059
- Ryan Cavalieri – 18/6:14.038
- Billy Fischer – 18/6:19.389
- Steven Hartson – 18/6:20.220
- Nolan Anderson – 17/6:01.472
- Jared Tebo – 17/6:01.728
- Mike Truhe – 17/6:03.303
- JR Mitch – 17/6:07.084
- Gunnar Rieck – 17/6:08.303
- Tyler Vik – 17/6:09.158
With the final round victory, his third in four chances, Dakotah Phend removed all doubt that he’s the favorite to win in tomorrow’s finals. He’s got fast company behind him, however, with former national champions Jared Tebo and Ryan Cavalieri in tow.
Modified Truck – Final Starting Order
- Dakotah Phend
- Jared Tebo
- Ryan Cavalieri
- Billy Fischer
- Steven Hartson
- Mike Truhe
- Nolan Anderson
- Tyler Vik
- Cody Hollis
- JR Mitch
The A-heat of Modified 2WD Short Course had to be rerun due to a computer glitch in the first few laps of its originally scheduled start time, but it didn’t matter to Team Associated’s Ryan Maifield. With the overall TQ virtually wrapped up thanks to his two quick times on Friday he put in a calm and collected drive to take an extremely close round win over third round winner Dustin Evans and Kody Numedahl.
Modified 2WD Short Course – Round Four
- Ryan Maifield – 17/6:09.296
- Dustin Evans – 17/6:10.230
- Kody Numedahl – 17/6:10.403
- Ryan Lutz – 17/6:14.636
- Tanner Denney – 17/6:20.459
- Cody Turner – 16/6:01.769
- JR Mitch – 16/6:06.745
- JP Richards – 16/6:09.422
- Justin Gilkison – 16/6:20.436
- Josh Hanna – 15/6:22.148
Surprise, surprise – two-time former National Champion Ryan Maifield finished qualifying with three TQ runs to earn the overall. It’ll be up to Dustin Evans and Kody Numedahl, the only two drivers who have been able to get close, to force the upset in three tries tomorrow.
Modified 2WD Short Course – Final Starting Order
- Ryan Maifield
- Dustin Evans
- Kody Numedahl
- Ryan Lutz
- Tanner Denney
- Cody Turner
- JR Mitch
- JP Richards
- Justin Gilkison
- Josh Hanna
Early mistakes cost Ty Tessmann a chance to sweep Modified 4WD Buggy qualifying as he finished second in the third round, but it was business as usual Sunday afternoon as he held on for the round win by less than a second over defending champion Ryan Cavalieri. He wrapped up the overall victory before the race even started, however, as third round TQ Dakotah Phend (the only driver still in contention mathematically) broke down in warm-up. That left the door open for new drivers to make the top ten and collect valuable points, and the A Main Hobbies/ProTek RC teammates of Tyler Vik and Barry Baker were among those that cashed in on the opportunity.
Modified 4WD Buggy – Round Four
- Ty Tessman – 19/6:09.608
- Ryan Cavalieri – 19/6:10.329
- Carson Wernimont – 19/6:22.997
- Tyler Vik – 18/6:01.023
- Dustin Evans – 18/6:01.089
- Steven Hartson – 18/6:02.786
- Barry Baker – 18/6:02.973
- Ryan Lutz – 18/6:03.614
- Cody King – 18/6:04.890
- Chad Due – 18/6:05.282
Tessmann did what everyone expected, wrapping up the overall with his third round win and establishing his position as the heavy favorite to snag Hot Bodies’ first national title with the D413 prototype. The oldest car in the field, TLR’s XXX-4, starts second in the hands of Dakotah Phend, with the most diverse list of teams represented among the four Modified classes.
Modified 4WD Buggy – Final Starting Order
- Ty Tessmann
- Dakotah Phend
- Ryan Maifield
- Ryan Cavalieri
- Carson Wernimont
- Jared Tebo
- Ryan Lutz
- Tyler Vik
- Dustin Evans
- Barry Baker
All eyes were on the previous three TQs in Modified 2WD Buggy (Tessmann, Maifield, and Phend) when it came down to the final qualifying race of the weekend, but it was the defending champion Ryan Cavalieri who stole the show – and with it, the overall TQ. He did so in grand fashion, finishing nearly seven seconds ahead of Team Durango’s Ryan Lutz. Behind Ryan, the top ten was quite a bit closer – no two drivers were separated by more than 85-hundredths of a second!
Modified 2WD Buggy – Round Four
- Ryan Cavalieri – 18/6:05.441
- Ryan Lutz – 6:12.282
- Dakotah Phend – 6:12.451
- Billy Fischer – 18/6:12.727
- Dustin Evans – 18/6:13.101
- Ryan Maifield – 18/6:13.256
- JR Mitch – 18/6:13.264
- Jared Tebo – 18/6:14.115
- Kody Numedahl – 18/6:14.668
- Steven Hartson – 18/6:15.226
Ryan Cavalieri’s final round performance earned him the ever-important advantage of starting at the front of the grid, a premium on a high-speed track with what seems like few spots to make competitive passes. Bolstering that benefit is that he’ll have a teammate behind him, with Ryan Maifield providing a buffer between him and the other round winners: Dakotah Phend and Ty Tessmann.
Modified 2WD Buggy – Final Starting Order
- Ryan Cavalieri
- Ryan Maifield
- Dakotah Phend
- Ty Tessmann
- Dustin Evans
- Ryan Lutz
- Billy Fischer
- Jared Tebo
- Kody Numedahl
- Steven Hartson
Who will win the coveted ROAR National Championships tomorrow and capture valuable momentum heading into next month’s IFMAR Worlds? We’ll find out in just a few hours!
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