ROAR NATS: Tessmann's streak stopped at 7 as Phend takes final Buggy round [VIDEO]

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By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

The third round of qualifying was yet another chance for the ROAR Fuel Off-Road Nationals field to beat Ty Tessmann, but the Canadian wonder was simply too strong - and by setting the fastest time in both classes in Q3, he locked up the overall TQ in each. The front row starting spot will be nice in Truck, but the bigger advantage is the only direct transfer spot into tomorrow’s Buggy final.

Having wrapped up the overall in the previous round, Ty Tessmann used Q4 to test tires for the A-Main - and still had the fastest time anyway. “It was actually better than I thought it would be,” said Ty Tessmann of his D8T Tessmann Edition fitted with X1 compound Blockades, “It was easier to drive, but still fast - within a tenth or so per lap of the Holeshots.” Another clean run without any issues or mistakes paved an easy road to the clean sweep. “I had a clean track and everything went really good. It wasn’t very eventful.”

“DIALED! All caps!” insisted Ryan Lutz with a grunt of enthusiasm after finishing second in Q4. “It was a good, clean run. I got to drive my own pace and ended up second. The softer clutch setup actually made it more crisp off the bottom because it was slipping before,” said Lutz. When asked about his plan for the final, Lutz said, “Don’t let Tessmann out of my sight! I’m going to follow behind him as long as I can.

Drew Moller had his best run of the week in the final round, running the same setup and X2 Holeshots he had chosen for every run. “It was good! I just punched it. I had a clean run. I am stoked. I am ecstatic. With fifteen exclamation points,” said Moller.

Dakotah Phend prevented Ty Tessmann from sweeping all eight qualifying rounds with his best run of the weekend. “It was really good - the best it has been all week,” said Phend of his TLR 8IGHT 3.0, having changed the setting of his brakes. “I’ve been getting more comfortable with the track and the car. The run was pretty much perfect, and I didn’t have any mistakes. I just drove clean and consistent. It took us a little longer to get going, having not come to the warm-up race, but we got it figured out now,” said Phend.

Ty Tessmann didn’t seem at all bothered with finishing second for the first time all week, having switched to X1 compound Fugitives to see what they may be like for the finals. “They were all right,” said Tessmann, “just kind of slow. I couldn’t go very fast. I could see Dakotah behind me so I could gauge where I was at, but I wasn’t too worried about it. I had a front flip on the back straightaway when I hit the hole that’s developing there - you can’t see it from the drivers’ stand.” Though he will transfer directly to the final, Ty will get to run either one of the semifinal practices he chooses - and he plans on trying X2 compound Fugitives.

Like he did in Truggy, Drew Moller again scored his best Buggy finish in the final round. “It was great,” said Moller, who didn’t make any changes to his HB D815 Tessmann Worlds Edition. “I just punched it,” said Moller, “and I had a clean run with no traffic. I’m happy with that.” 

Here are the final points standings: