Hello everyone, welcome to another edition of the LRC Race Blog! Here, you will find photos, updates, and other information (under the guise of my semi-biased editorial opinion).
Well, we have officially arrived at the facility here in Union City (just south of Oakland and southeast of San Francisco). The facility here is top notch. In fact, this was the first time anyone on the LRC crew can remember where the track was completely finished and ready to go the day before the event began (usually people work into the night to finish up all of the last minute touches). When we arrived, everything was in pristine shape. Arriving shortly after us, were Team Associated and TLR...and that's where our first and only news to report from today came from.
After hearing rumors (and creating some of our own) about the potential that TLR would unveil a new truck based off of the 22 platform, we knew we had to pay close attention to the TLR guys as they arrived and unpacked their gear. Low and behold, the elusive beast was spotted in the hands of Matt Chambers as he unloaded his gear. We questioned many TLR drivers about the truck, but all declined to comment. We figure there is an "official" news release that will come later on that is requiring them to be silent on the matter. But the new vehicle will be too hard to hide and keep quiet for long, and eventually someone will have to talk. We hope to bring you some of their insight on the new vehicle later this week.
So stay tuned! not only do we have a full week of racing action coming your way, their is also exciting new product info to be dished out.
In the mean time, check out a picture of the track below.
The only real news from today is, perhaps, the biggest news of the week- the TLR 22T is alive and well and exists within the hands of all of their elite team drivers.
8/10/11
Eric Swanson LiveRC.com
Day one of practice:
On Wednesday we saw the first laps on the track by this week's competitors. Open practice was run all day today, despite the high amount of entries. The 60ft driver's stand may have had something to do with that. However, while traffic was nearly non-existent in the driver's stand staging area, traffic on the track made up for it and then some. Practice felt pretty pointless at times today. Although, if one's desire was to be practicing evasive driving procedures, then practice was probably awesome. For those who wanted even a modicum of free and clear track to get in a rhythm on, though, it was a dream that sat perched well beyond anyone's grasp.
Track Notes:
-The track is very high speed, but surprisingly manageable. The high speed jumps look terrifying, but are actually very forgiving.
-The main obstacle on the track that people discussed in the pits was "the quad." The quad lies on the end of what is being referred to as the "rhythm section," however rhythm was hard to come by when there are at least four wrecked cars scattered throughout the section on every single lap. Anyway, the quad can be taken as a full quad, or a triple-single.
-Some drivers seemed content with trying to quad every lap. Most of the fast guys seemed to be familiarizing themselves with the triple-single line as well.
-The track surface seemed to hold up well, aside from a few sections where some rocks became exposed. The thin layer of dust lies outside the groove throughout the whole track. This condition is expected to stay, despite the traction within the groove coming up.
Schedule:
-Tomorrow (Thursday) we will run two rounds of controlled practice. Like many large events these days, the controlled practice will determine how qualifying heats are set-up (a driver's fastest three laps in succession will count towards the resort).
-Friday and Saturday we will run two rounds of qualifying.
-Sunday will be the main events.
Tune in tomorrow to see who's fast, and who is out to lunch! You can watch the LIVE BROADCAST by clicking this link and going to the "2011 ROAR Off-Road Nationals." NATS PHOTO GALLERY
8/11/11
Eric Swanson LiveRC.com
Day two of practice:
Today's practice session was much more civilized that yesterday's. The subtraction of short course trucks banzai-ing through every corner was more than likely the reason.
Two rounds of controlled practice were run today, with each driver's best three consecutive laps counting towards their qualifying...qualifying order. Yes, at the ROAR nats, you qualify for qualifying, in a sense. The system works very well, and I have yet to hear anyone complain about it at any event I've been to. While it may not be the most accurate measuring stick of the field's performance, it is a measuring stick- which, ultimately, provides cleaner qualifying heats.
TLR's Dustin Evans TQ'ed the qualifying qualifiers, one could say. His stuff was on rails all day. Dakotah Phend is also looking very strong in all of the classes he is running. All of the usual suspects are in the mix, as well as a few you may not expect. Team Associated team manager Brent Thielke, although he himself is a world-class talent on the track, isn't usually the top running guy in the speed-rich AE pits that he oversees. However, that was the case today as Thielke put himself 4th overall in the practice rankings and ahead of his two thoroughbreds Cavalieri and Maifield.
For complete results of how drivers seeded themselves into tomorrow's qualifying, click here.
Pit Notes:
Team Associated appears to have made another step forward in the evolution of their "long-chassis" experiment. A handful of drivers were spotted running the standard length B4.1 chassis with a modified rear t-plate that moved the entire rear end off of the back end of the chassis by what looked to be around three or four millimeters. The modification also appears to include some aluminum parts near the rear chassis brace, but it's unclear what role they play in the new set-up. It is more than likely just a device to space the tranny back so it is in line with the extended t-plate.
Continuing our theme of making complete stabs in the dark at TLR's upcoming plans, I would like to take a second to publicly ponder the motivation behind "Dyno" Dan Hissam's descision to run the 4WD class...with a XX4. This smells of R & D to me. I would bet money that Dyno has some sort of experiment going on under the hood of his ride. Or perhaps he is just taking notes. When paired with the fact that none of TLR's elite-level drivers are running in the 4WD class (an odd occurrence if the company were still interested in selling XXX4s), one can make a fairly safe guess that there is a new 4WD car in the works at TLR. It's also safe to assume that Dyno Dan is knee-deep in the blue prints for it.
LRC Picks!
This is a new tradition we are going to try to start here this week! The LRC crew are going to make our pre-qualifying picks for who we think will win each mod class based on what we've observed. We also would like you guys to chime in and tell us who YOU think will win based on what YOU'VE observed! Here we go:
Eric: 2WD- Dakotah Phend, 4WD- Ryan Cavalieri, Truck- Ryan Cavalieri, 2WD SCT- Jared Tebo, 4WD SCT- Mike Truhe
Brandon: 2WD- Jared Tebo, 4WD- Ryan Cavalieri, Truck- Dakotah Phend, 2WD SCT- Ryan Maifield, 4WD SCT Ryan Lutz
Bob: 2WD- Ryan Cavalieri, 4WD- Jared Tebo, Truck- Ryan Cavalieri, 2WD SCT- Ryan Maifield, 4WD SCT- Mike Truhe
Who do you think will win? Let us know!
8/12/11
Eric Swanson LiveRC.com
Day one of qualifying:
The intermixing of 2WD buggy and short course trucks finally came to an end on Friday as actual racing began (thank goodness!).
Notes:
-Defending Champs The TLR team looked every bit as strong as they did in practice during the first two rounds of qualifying. Colorado’s Dustin Evans is leading the TLR charge to rack up another 2WD national championship by taking the first two rounds of 2WD, and locking up a share of overall TQ.
-Matty Ice Matt Chambers, The other half of the "Colorado-Connection" (We're not too sure how well we like that nickname), missed TQ in R2 of 2WD by less than a tenth of a second.
-Not a Concurs Contestant After some rough luck in R1, Ryan Lutz found himself a can of R/C paint and spray bombed a lime-green rocket that propelled him all the way to the front of the pack in R2 of 4WD short course.
-Peanut Update Travis Amezcua is running yet another version of the long-awaited Slash conversion kit, designed by the phantom company- Anza. It is amazing to watch Travis wheel around a slash that looks as dialed as any SCT out there.
-Race Team 2.0 The A-Main Hobbies race team is legitimizing itself more and more at each event. Tyler Vik, Curtis Door, and Austin Blair are all in contention for a spot in the 2WD “a-main.”
-Lurking Legends Spotted roaming the pits today were AKA frontman, former WC, and 800,000 time national champion Joel Johnson. Cliff Lett, another former WC, was also spotted in the pits.
Tomorrow we will finish up qualifying and set the grids for Sunday’s main events! Time will tell if TLR can defend their 2WD title, or if the “old” B4 can transfer some of its world championship speed to this weekend’s nationals. And, of course, we can’t forget Kyosho, who have perennial “all-pro” driver Jared Tebo and up-and-comer Shaun Dunlap performing well also.
8/13/11
Eric Swanson LiveRC.com
Day two of qualifying:
So Cal what? That’s right; no longer does one need to be born and bred within the bounds of the Southern California in order to compete at the highest level of R/C racing in the United States. Two Midwestern heroes, dubbed the Colorado Connection have placed themselves on the front row of the 2WD modified starting grid this Sunday.
TLR’s Dustin Evans and Matt Chambers completed the 1-2 sweep of qualifying this afternoon by finishing first and second in R4, respectively. The two long-time teammates and friends led a charge of six non-SoCal residents in the 2WD A-main- an astounding accomplishment considering that the race is held in California. And yes, I counted Jared Tebo as one of the six. Hey, I said non “resident” of SoCal ;) At any rate, the geographical diversity amongst the elite part of the field is a welcoming sight. Although with fellow Coloradoan Kody Numedahl starting sixth on the grid, we may have to retract our "diverse" comment, and just consider Colorado "SoCal-East."
Elsewhere, Team Associated’s Ryan Maifield wrapped up TQ in 2WD short course in R3, having TQ’ed the first three. Maifield is running JConcepts' new hi-flow SCT body, which seems to help the truck no transform into a parachute. Someone who is not running a hi-flow body, or anything even remotely close to the same concept, is Dustin Evans. At times today, Evans’ truck appeared as if it was about to take off and fly away as he went down the straightaway.
Notes:
22T Watch- The new truck from TLR didn’t exactly run away from the field. Although we hear some of the drivers have only had the truck for a few days, so in time the truck may become dominant. With that said, it certainly didn’t perform like a slouch! A whole mess of 22Ts sits right in the front half of the grid for the A-mains, and all showed the speed necessary to leap up to the front and grab a win at any moment.
Slasher- Are you kidding me? Travis Amezcua has just qualified fourth at the ROAR Off-Road Nationals in a highly competitive class with a TRAXXAS. Well, sort of. The vehicle he piloted is a highly-modified version of a Traxxas Slash, but it is still comprised of Traxxas gear nonetheless. That is something many of us would have never guessed we would see.
Spread Too Thin- After digesting this event for a few days now, I finally figured out something that was bothering me about this race. There are too may classes that the “pro” drivers are required to compete in. This has left each class watered down and void of some of the classic manufacturer and driver battles we have come to expect over the years. In fact, the only class in which every top name is entered in is 2WD mod. While this may be the most prestigious class regardless, the fact that it is the only one in which everyone is competing in now solidifies this as a fact and delegates all of the other modified titles to an even lower status. But, what can you do...
Main day is tomorrow and we will be providing you all of the action LIVE! For complete main listings, click HERE
8/14/11
Eric Swanson LiveRC.com
It's been a long week here in the Bay Area, but it is now complete and we have new ROAR National Champions to show for it!
The premiere 2WD Modified class was completely dominated by Colorado's Dustin Evans. Evans, starting from the pole after TQ'ing the event, went out and won the first two A-mains to earn his title (and a relaxing seat on the sidelines for A3). It was clear throughout the event that if Evans didn't crash, nobody was going to catch him.
Another driver who had untouchable speed in today's main events was Dakotah Phend. The youngster racked up yet another national title in the Pro-4 class by winning A2 and A3. Phend was on track to win A1 as well, but an incident with Ryan Lutz knocked him out of contention. In A2 and A3, however, nobody had anything for Phend, as he won easily.
Jared Tebo was his usual fast self, taking home both the Truck Modified and 4WD Modified titles, with Ryan Maifield rounding out the modified classes with a win in Pro-2- making it the second consecutive year he has won the class.
Here are your 2011 ROAR National Champions!
17.5 Buggy: Bryan Eady 17.5 Truck: Danny Stojakovic 17.5 Short Course: Danny Stojakovic Pro-4: Dakotah Phend (TLR) Pro-2: Ryan Maifield (Associated) Truck Modified: Jared Tebo (Kyosho) 4WD Modified: Jared Tebo (Kyosho) 2WD Modified: Dustin Evans (TLR)
We will be posting all of the modified A-mains tonight/tomorrow, so stay tuned!
Here are complete videos from the modified A-1 mains. More will follow!
8/9/11
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