2013 Cactus Classic: Round One Results

Fifty-one heats are complete at Scottsdale RC Speedway, and with all five Modified classes running at the end of the round there are plenty of exciting races to watch. After the practice heats from yesterday were resorted using each drivers’ fastest three laps, and the fastest drivers running at the end, the times for each division drop with each heat that passes.

The first class was Modified Stadium Truck, and Ryan Cavalieri took the first TQ of the weekend with his RC10T4.2 truck – this is the debut race for the new kit, which uses the swept front arms and wider shock tower first seen on the SC10B RS short course buggy. The top 8 drivers for the round came out of the final heat, with Ryan edging out TLR’s Dustin Evans by nearly two seconds. Behind Evans was German racer Joern Neumann and his Team Durango DEST210R – his performance made even that much more impressive by the fact that stadium truck is a class almost exclusively raced in the U.S.!

Modified Stadium Truck – Round One
1. Ryan Cavalieri
2. Dustin Evans
3. Joern Neumann
4. Ryan Maifield
5. Jared Tebo
6. Steven Hartson
7. Billy Fischer
8. Mike Truhe
9. Michael Gardner
10. Scott Spear

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Ryan Maifield knows a thing or two about short course racing, having found success in both 2WD and 4WD classes at many races across the country; he proved it again in the opening round of 2WD Short Course, topping the field by nearly four seconds after being the fastest truck in yesterday’s practice session in the debut race for the new SC10.2 truck using the same SC10B-derived front suspension as the T4.2. The only driver within ten seconds was teammate Ryan Cavalieri, who was four seconds back but over six ahead of Dustin Evans and the rest of the field. The biggest surprise? Firelands Group engineer Jason Corl with his ANZA-converted Traxxas Slash!

Modified 2WD Short Course – Round One
1. Ryan Maifield
2. Ryan Cavalieri
3. Dustin Evans
4. Frank Root
5. Jason Corl
6. Max Flurer
7. Matt Castellano
8. Jason Jakubczyk
9. Brian Kinwald
10. Cody Turner

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The 4×4 short course class was another manufacturer 1-2 sweep, this time headed by the TLR teammates of Billy Fischer and Dakotah Phend. Fischer beat the former class national champ by nearly two seconds despite Phend having the fastest lap of the round. Four of the five Team Durango drivers to make the A heat (Amezcua, Wernimont, Neumann, and Honigl) were disqualified for running wings on their bodies (a short course class no-no), putting them at a disadvantage in this weekend’s best 2-of-4 qualifying format and leaving Ryan Lutz to hold down the fort, which he did with a strong top-3 run.

Modified 4WD Short Course – Round One
1. Billy Fischer
2. Dakotah Phend
3. Ryan Lutz
4. Trevor Clement
5. Charles Hicks
6. Brian Kinwald
7. David Wells
8. David Jenson
9. Alex Guerrero
10. Kevin Gahan

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Jared Tebo absolutely smashed the first round of Modified 2WD buggy, finishing over five and a half seconds ahead of everyone with a blistering run. Finishing second for the round was Joern Neumann, the defending Euro Offroad Series champion, followed by another overseas racer: on-road world champion Naoto Matsukura. SRS local Tanner Denney was the biggest surprise, throwing down a great run in the early heats that kept him in the top ten even after the heavy hitters ran afterward. It’s interesting to note that the three Team Associated drivers – Maifield, Denney, and Hartson – were the only rear-motor cars in the top ten!

Modified 2WD Buggy – Round One
1. Jared Tebo
2. Joern Neumann
3. Naoto Matsukura
4. Ryan Maifield
5. Travis Amezcua
6. Tanner Denney
7. Matt Castellano
8. Lee Martin
9. Mike Truhe
10. Steven Hartson

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Multi-time class world champion Ryan Cavalieri showed why he has earned such honors by taking the opening round of 4WD by less than eight-tenths as he narrowly edged a hard-charging Joern Neumann despite giving up a half-second on the last lap alone. Finishing three seconds behind Neumann was another pair of close finishes, with Dakotah Phend and Ryan Maifield the only two other drivers to get by for 15 lap runs. Phend was joined in the top five by his TLR teammate Dustin Evans, with both drivers choosing to run the XXX-4. Check out local racer Cory Crosley breaking into the top ten!

Modified 4WD Buggy – Round One
1. Ryan Cavalieri
2. Joern Neumann
3. Dakotah Phend
4. Ryan Maifield
5. Dustin Evans
6. Naoto Matsukura
7. Jared Tebo
8. Carson Wernimont
9. Steven Hartson

10. Cory Crosley