ROAR NATS: Cavalieri completely dominated qualifying by topping all four classes

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By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

The final round of qualifying at any RC racing event places extra pressure on any driver not already locked into an A-Main position, as well as those competing for the advantage of starting out front. With just one of the four premier Modified classes decided heading into the final round, all eyes were on multi-time champion Ryan Cavalieri - and he didn’t disappoint.

2WD Short Course

Jared Tebo started the final heat of Short Course qualifying in the mix with Spencer Rivkin and Ryan Cavalieri, who led for the first three laps. Cavalieri lost two positions with a mistake, putting Rivkin out front, but the young rising star couldn’t match Tebo’s pace. Jared pulled away for the only 19-lap run of the round, while Rivkin held off Cavalieri by less than a second.

1. Jared Tebo 19/6:19.119
2. Spencer Rivkin 18/6:00.879
3. Ryan Cavalieri 18/6:01.794
4. Ryan Maifield 18/6:09.354
5. Matt Chambers 18/6:11.076
6. Kody Numedahl 18/6:14.438
7. Chad Due 18/6:18.574
8. Brad Shearer 18/6:19.509
9. Austin Horne 18/6:20.619
10. Dustin Evans 18/6:21.300
11. David Jenson 18/6:22.810
12. Mike Truhe 17/6:03.945
13. Paul Sinclair 17/6:05.159
14. Michael Twilling 17/6:05.933
15. Mike Beaver 17/6:06.920
16. Bryce Nyikes 17/6:16.976
17. Nathan Bernal 17/6:18.632
18. Christopher Wheeler 6/2:11.280
19. Tanner Denney 1/20.092
20. Tommy Hinz 0/0.000

Racing Truck

Except for two laps in the middle of the race, when Rivkin took the lead, Cavalieri led throughout the final Racing Truck heat. Meanwhile, a disastrous last few laps knocked Rivkin down the running order. Rivkin’s misfortune allowed Steven Hartson to move into second, but Jared Tebo passed him on the final lap to take second by nearly two seconds - though he was 6.5 seconds behind Cavalieri.

1. Ryan Cavalieri 19/6:08.910
2. Jared Tebo 19/6:15.448
3. Steven Hartson 19/6:17.398
4. Dakotah Phend 19/6:19.129
5. Tommy Hinz 19/6:19.233
6. Carson Wernimont 19/6:19.362
7. Rob Gillespie 19/6:20.597
8. Brent Thielke 18/6:00.482
9. Cody King 18/6:00.914
10. Matt Chambers 18/6:01.330
11. Spencer Rivkin 18/6:01.680
12. Tanner Denney 18/6:01.927
13. Alex Kosciuszek 18/6:03.434
14. Jake Mayo 18/6:04.670
15. Brian Kinwald 18/6:05.245
16. Ashe Deering 18/6:07.560
17. Nathan Bernal 18/6:10.803
18. Shawn Blackwell 18/6:13.069
19. Drew Moller 18/6:16.228
20. Blake Beyett 18/6:17.462

4WD Buggy

Dakotah Phend kicked off the final heat of 4WD qualifying with a blistering start, but two mistakes in the middle of the race knocked him down to sixth. Phend’s misfortune promoted Rivkin to the lead, but he too made a mistake just before the four-minute mark. The opening was all Cavalieri needed to complete the 4-for-4 sweep as he held off his teammate by less than two-tenths, while Phend fought his way back for third on the final lap.

1. Ryan Cavalieri 20/6:05.815
2. Spencer Rivkin 20/6:05.993
3. Dakotah Phend 20/6:11.252
4. Drew Moller 20/6:13.434
5. Carson Wernimont 20/6:15.615
6. Jared Tebo 20/6:16.915
7. Dustin Evans 20/6:17.324
8. Daimon Borkowicz 19/6:00.665
9. Ryan Maifield 19/6:00.728
10. Chad Due 19/6:04.039
11. Rob Gillespie 19/6:04.419
12. Jake Mayo 19/6:07.166
13. Michael Twilling 19/6:07.179
14. Kevin Motter 19/6:08.744
15. Tanner Denney 19/6:09.574
16. Cody King 19/6:09.669
17. Nathan Bernal 19/6:12.035
18. Brad Shearer 19/6:13.243
19. Aydin Horne 19/6:15.275
20. David Jenson 19/6:15.374

2WD Buggy

Tebo and Rivkin started off the race up front, before a mistake by Rivkin on the fifth lap dropped him to fourth behind Phend and Cavalieri. At the two minute mark, Phend and Cavalieri both had bad crashes that dropped them way down the order, giving Rivkin a chance to move back into second. With just over a minute to go, Tebo crashed two laps in a row and slipped back behind Rivkin and Phend. Rivkin won by less than four-tenths of a second over Phend, while Carson Wernimont’s time from the previous heat was good enough for third.

1. Spencer Rivkin 19/6:04.942
2. Dakotah Phend 19/6:05.305
3. Carson Wernimont 19/6:06.810
4. Steven Hartson 19/6:06.826
5. Jared Tebo 19/6:06.986
6. Ryan Maifield 19/6:07.761
7. Ty Tessmann 19/6:10.986
8. Rob Gillespie 19/6:11.175
9. Ryan Cavalieri 19/6:11.505
10. Tommy Hinz 19/6:11.815
11. Ashe Deering 19/6:16.737
12. Christopher Wheeler 19/6:17.668
13. Chad Due 19/6:17.806
14. Nathan Bernal 19/6:18.246
15. Rudy Rico 19/6:18.467
16. Kevin Motter 19/6:18.854
17. Mike Truhe 19/6:18.868
18. Aydin Horne 19/6:19.394
19. Alex Kosciuszek 19/6:19.810
20. Matt Chambers 19/6:20.020

Ryan Cavalieri had already locked up 4WD going into the final round, but luck was on his side in the other three as well. Because Tebo won the fourth round of Short Course, Spencer Rivkin was unable to tie Cavalieri on points - so Cavalieri TQ'd the SC class. He clinched the Racing Truck TQ by winning the fourth round, and completed the four-round sweep in 4WD. In the 2WD class, Spencer Rivkin's final round win set up a three-way tie on points between Cavalieri, Rivkin, and Tebo - and Cavalieri won the tiebreaker by just over a second.

Here are the final points standings for all seven classes. The first main event is scheduled to begin at 10:30 AM Pacific Time - don't miss it!