2013 ROAR Fuel Off-Road Nationals – Fourth Round and Overall Qualifying Results

2013 ROAR Fuel Off-Road Nationals – Fourth Round and Overall Qualifying Results

Two new names topped the final round of qualifying at this year’s ROAR Nationals; one continued a streak (four different TQ’s in Truck) and one halted a streak (Dakotah Phend TQ’d the first three rounds of Buggy, but a DNS allowed someone else to claim the stop spot). More importantly, the fourth round was the last opportunity for many drivers to earn a second solid finish and try to make the all-important cut0ff, which at this race this year was ten – as in ten trucks transfer directly to the A Main, while ten buggies earned spots in each of two semifinals. In both classes, two bump-ups will move on from each lower main onto the next step of the ladder.

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Adam Drake looks as strong as ever in the Truck class, no doubt aided by a spectacular weekend from the rest of his TLR teammates as both Dakotah Phend and Mike Truhe also captured round wins. Drake narrowly edged Ty Tessman for the fourth round TQ by less than a half second in one of the closest rounds of the weekend: the top five were separated by less than five seconds!

Truck – Round FourTQ. Adam Drake 16/7:07.947
2. Ty Tessmann 16/7:08.334
3. Mike Truhe 16/7:10.820
4. Ryan Lutz 16/7:12.373
5. Billy Easton 16/7:12.485
6. Jared Tebo 16/7:14.786
7. Steven Hartson 16/7:15.241
8. Mark Pavidis 16/7:17.894
9. Austin Blair 16/7:18.445
10. Drew Moller 16/7:18.525
11. Dakotah Phend 16/7:18.532
12. Joshua Wheeler 16/7:20.450
13. Tyler Vik 16/:22.336
14. Cody Smith 16/7:23.608
15. Jason Branham 16/7:23.808
16. Ryan Maifield 16/7:24.061

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Adam Drake’s TQ in the fourth round arranged an incredibly rare four-way tie on points for the top spot, which brought the final decision down to ROAR’s tiebreaker of fastest combined times – giving the front row starting spot for tomorrow’s A Main to defending champion Ty Tessman. He’ll be chased into turn one by the driver who chased him into the final turn one year ago, as Dakotah Phend will be flanked by his TLR teammates Adam Drake and Mike Truhe. Silver State Nitro Challenge champion in this class, Ryan Lutz, rounds out the top five.

Truck – A Main LineupTQ. Ty Tessman
2. Dakotah Phend
3. Adam Drake
4. Mike Truhe
5. Ryan Lutz
6. Jared Tebo
7. Ryan Maifield
8. Billy Easton
9. Steven Hartson
10. Austin Blair


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With the TQ all wrapped up by Dakotah Phend after three rounds, the fourth was an opportunity for a new face to snatch that ever-important “0” to improve his points total significantly. Phend lined up for round four but didn’t make the start and left the door wide open for his teammate and former national champion Mike Truhe to take the top spot. He beat reigning champion Ty Tessman by just .067 seconds!

Buggy – Round Four
TQ. Mike Truhe – 16/7:12.939
2. Ty Tessmann – 16/7:13.094
3. Cody King – 16/7:16.217
4. Jared Tebo – 16/7:19.232
5. Ryan Lutz – 16/7:19.377
6. Ryan Maifield – 16/7:19.483
7. Carson Wernimont – 16/7:20.967
8. Billy Fischer – 16/7:21.373
9. Tyler Vik – 16/7:23.974
10. Ryan Cavalieri – 16/7:24.029
11. Barry Pettit – 16/7:24.905
12. Steven Hartson – 16/7:25.422
13. Ryan Lopez – 16/7:26.357
14. Drew Moller – 16/7:28.310

With three round wins in his first three chances Dakotah Phend wrapped up not only official TQ honors, but the title of being Sunday’s favorite to win the national championship-deciding final. Because the buggy class adopted the IFMAR ladder system, in which no one makes the final directly out of qualifying, last year’s 1 and 2 of Ty Tessman and Phend will both start up front in tomorrow’s semifinals. As per international protocol, the top five from each semi will go straight to the final, to be joined by the fastest 6th and 7th place finishers from either race. Typically, a race using the IFMAR ladder system will have one semi that seems “easier” or less stacked than the other. This race is quite balanced – both races will be tough!

Buggy – Semifinal A (Even)
2. Ty Tessman
4. Adam Drake
6. Steven Hartson
8. Ryan Lutz
10. Ryan Cavalieri
12. Josh Wheeler
14. Drew Moller
16. Barry Pettit
18. Taylor Petersen
20. Jeremy Kortz

Buggy – Semifinal B (Odd)
1. Dakotah Phend
3. Mike Truhe
5. Jared Tebo
7. Cody King
9. Carson Wernimont
11. Billy Fischer
13. Billy Easton
15. Dylan Rodriguez
17. Ryan Maifield
19. Mark Pavidis

Photos courtesy of LiveRC.com

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Updated: June 17, 2013 — 10:13 AM
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