2012 ROAR Electric Off-Road Supernationals Format – How Super Is It?

2012 ROAR Electric Off-Road Supernationals Format – How Super Is It?

Modifying a word of the English language by adding the prefix “super” denotes superior quality, size, or grade. This year’s ROAR Electric Off-Road National Championships, in which all eleven recognized classes will be spread across one unprecedented “Supernationals” event that spans 9 days, will be super for many reasons:

  • The Supernationals format is the second major change to the ROAR Electric Off-Road Nationals in the last six years. In 2007, stock and modified (along with the now defunct 19T/Super Stock) classes for each car type raced together on the same weekend for the first time, marking the end of the separate ROAR Electric Off-Road Stock Nationals.
  • Stock and Open divisions for 2WD Stadium Truck, 2WD Buggy and 4WD Buggy will compete from August 11-14, while Stock and Open 2WD SC, Open 4WD SC, and both electric 1/8-scale classes have the track from August 16-19. Wednesday, August 15th, is a day off for both the racers and race management crew; ROAR listed low turnouts for some divisions, particularly the electric 1/8-scale classes, as the reason for combining the classes in this fashion in order to encourage larger turnouts. This schedule is not unlike that used for the IFMAR Worlds, which separates 2WD and 4WD buggy completely with a day between for track maintenance.
  • Like all other even-numbered years, the 2012 ROAR Electric Off-Road Supernationals serve as the North American qualifying race for the 2013 IFMAR Electric Off-Road World Championships which will be held in the United States for the first time in ten years. Around 30 drivers will earn a chance to participate in the upcoming Worlds!
  • Several highly anticipated new releases, including Team Losi Racing’s 22SCT 2WD short course truck and the prototype Kyosho RB6 2WD buggy, will make their ROAR Nationals debut.
  • West Coast RC Raceway, home of the last two Reedy International Race of Champions, will host the Supernationals; though it’s the home track to many of RC’s pro-level drivers that make their homes in Southern California, California-based racers have failed to win the Invitational class at the Reedy Race and have struggled in the Open classes as well.

As for the event’s itinerary, opinions on the new format are as split as the classes themselves; supporters of the “super” schedule point to larger turnouts due and decreasing traveling costs for the major teams, ROAR personnel, and those who want to stay for the whole week-plus-two-days, while most critics have been quick to condemn the length of the event and question the classes that were combined.

What do you think of the new “Supernationals” format?

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Updated: July 20, 2015 — 5:18 PM
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