ROAR NATS: Tessmann takes top seed in both classes to end Day Two

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By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Practice is complete at the 2015 ROAR Fuel Off-Road Nationals at AMain.com’s Silver Dollar RC Raceway, and from now on every time cars hit the track will matter. Even with the rising temperatures, the track improved from the first timed round earlier today and the seeding order in both Truck and Buggy classes changed dramatically.

What didn’t change, however, was the favorite to perhaps win both classes (again), along with his closest challenger.

Former champion Ty Tessmann improved his seed time by over half a second from the first round and widened the gap between himself and Ryan Lutz - who also improved his time - despite making no changes to his HB D8T Tessmann Edition. “Everything is the same,” said Tessmann, “I was punching it to try and beat Lutz’s time.”

“I could still drive it fast,” said Ryan Lutz of his NT48, who commented that he should’ve gone to thicker shock oil after improving his seed time by nearly eight-tenths over the first round, “I just could’ve gone faster.” Looking to get off to a good start this weekend, having finished on the podium in three of four chances the last two years, Ryan said, “other than that, I’m ready to rock tomorrow.”

“My truck was really good,” said Ryan Cavalieri, who dropped his seed time by over six-tenths to improve from seventh to third, “thanks to Mitch (Looper) at M2C Racing for the longer chassis.” The new aluminum plate for the RC8TCE was released about a month and a half ago, which not only extends the wheelbase of the truck but moves the weight balance further forward. Running it for the first time, Cavalieri said it makes the truck more balanced to drive. The longer chassis is in addition to several new parts that the Associated team has tried on the truck over the last few months, each resulting in a marked improvement. “Soon enough I’ll have a dialed truck!” said Cavalieri.

Running X2 compound Electrons for the first time, which he felt gave his HB D815 Tessmann Worlds Edition buggy more overall grip, the defending Buggy class champion improved his seed time by nearly eight-tenths of a second to take over the top seed from Ryan Lutz. “I’m going to run (Electrons) tomorrow and I’m changing my car to suit them better,” said Tessmann.

Ryan Lutz was the only driver in the top 21 that did not improve his seed time in the second round, but his P1 performance was enough to keep him in the second position. “I made some bad setup changes,” said Lutz, who felt his car was not properly equipped for the track conditions. “The shock oil got too hot in the heat,” Lutz said, “but it will be better tomorrow.”

Two-time defending Top Qualifier Dakotah Phend improved his time by nearly 1.7 seconds, though he came up 18-thousandths of a second short of eclipsing Lutz for the second spot. “It took a couple of minutes for the tires to break in, but then they were awesome and my engine had plenty of power,” said Phend. “I don’t think I’ll make any changes for tomorrow, but I’ll wait until after the three-minute run in the morning and see how the track is.” Phend likes the layout, but said his car is better on one side than the other. “The left side of the track is pretty hard - if you miss the line, it’s slippery. I think my car’s really good in the sweeper and down into that next 180. It’s really stable and I can drive it really hard.”