The Junior class, for drivers under 16 years of age, was a staple of the ROAR Stock Nationals for many years - with past winners including Dakotah Phend, JP Richards - but was nixed after 2007.
In 2015, at the ROAR Fuel Off-Road Nationals at A Main Hobbies’ Silver Dollar RC Raceway, ROAR added a Junior final for the 1/8-scale nitro buggy category using the existing qualifying performance of eligible drivers. And in between Ty Tessmann’s unprecedented domination of the Truck and Buggy classes, Indiana native Tyler Jones did a wonderful impression of the Canadian - speeding away from the field to lead every lap of the Junior final as well to take the inaugural title.
Jones remained a regional frontrunner for the remainder of the 2015 season and then surprised the RC scene by switching to Team Associated.
He continued climbing podiums at races throughout the midwest with Team Associated, including earning a second-straight E-Buggy win at the JConcepts 1/8-Scale Spring Nationals
However, a string of rough luck in the later stages of the year concluded with a 98th-place finish at his first IFMAR Worlds in Las Vegas.
Jones announced at the end of 2016 that he returned to Team Losi Racing, and went to his first Reedy Race of Champions - where he TQ’d the Open 2WD class and finished third.
The month of May was particularly impressive for Jones, as he won both the 2WD and 4WD classes to clinch the Great Lakes Championship.
Then he finished third at the ROAR Nationals Warm-Up behind Ty Tessmann and Dakotah Phend.
And the following weekend, he won the 710 RC Raceway season opener.
The Indiana native will be competing at the ROAR Nationals, though now he’s no longer eligible for the Junior final. In addition to TLR, Jones races for MOTIV, JConcepts, Sanwa, VRP and more.
Last year, eventual winner Dillon Caldwell crashed on the triple on the first lap, and then flamed out on his first pit stop, putting him at a serious disadvantage. Meanwhile, Ryan Pavidis, Seth VanDalen and Brandon Rose traded the lead for most of the 30-minute main. Both Pavidis and Rose had trouble in the middle of the race and left VanDalen out front while Caldwell clawed his way back toward the top. VanDalen led late, with Caldwell taking the lead briefly during the final round of pit stops before VanDalen stretched out a nearly ten-second lead in the closing minutes. However, VanDalen started crashing under the pressure - and Caldwell took over the top spot with a few laps to go.
Caldwell closed out the 2016 season with the 4WD victory at the Archway Classic in St. Louis in December.
After four years with Pro-Line Racing, Caldwell switched to JConcepts - and won the Modified Stadium Truck class at the Castle Creations Off-Road Jam in January.
In March, Caldwell switched back to Pro-Line Racing. He remains sponsored by XRAY, O.S. Engines, Futaba and Trakpower.
Unfortunately, Caldwell is not entered for the ROAR Fuel Nationals at Stateline RC - leaving the door wide open for a third winner.
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