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FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Truhe's surprising 2008 ROAR Nats runaway win

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Main Photo: FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Truhe's surprising 2008 ROAR Nats runaway win

By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Everybody knows that Friday is meant for reminiscing old times. Each week we take you back in time as we flashback to some of R/C racing's greatest moments, products, drivers, and more!
 
 
Flashback: 2008
Team Losi Racing driver Mike Truhe leads every lap on his way to the ROAR Fuel Off-Road Buggy National title
 
At last weekend’s ROAR Fuel Off-Road Nationals, Ty Tessmann cleaned everyone’s clock in both finals by leading every lap.
 
Back in 2008, Mike Truhe did the same thing - but it was the manner in which he did it that caught everyone by surprise.
 
The 2008 ROAR Nationals for 1/8-scale nitro buggy were highly anticipated for several reasons - the Hot Bodies team had a new D8 buggy, it was the second time Team Losi Racing and Team Associated had gone head-to-head in the class (after TLR earned its first win the year prior thanks to Maifield's disastrous DNF with a one-lap lead), and the race was just a couple of months before the IFMAR Worlds in Charlotte, North Carolina.
 
 
The race was held at Thunder Alley RC Raceway in Beaumont, CA, on a loamy and difficult course with tons of elevation change.
 
 
Behind the wheel of the O'Donnell Z01B buggy, Jared Tebo scorched the first three rounds of qualifying to take a convincing TQ.
 
He took it easy in the final round, and 2007 ROAR 2WD Modified Buggy National Champion Mike Truhe set the fastest time in the final round, which improved his points total to second best.
 
Going into the final, there likely wasn't one person at the track (or watching on LiveRC) that would've bet against Tebo - except Truhe.
 
 
Truhe nailed the start like it was a video game, and he caught Tebo off-guard racing up the hill into the first corner. Jared bobbled, leaving the door open for Mike Truhe to drive off into the sunset.
 
Meanwhile, Truhe's TLR teammate Billy Fischer had charged through the field. In fact, his race didn't just start from tenth on the grid - it had started in the 1/8 finals! Fischer bumped up through three 20-minute lower finals just to reach the A-Main, and he caught Tebo with less than ten minutes to go. At the 53:00 mark, Fischer passed Tebo for second on the podium.
 
Finish. Driver (Qualified) - Finishing Time (Chassis/Engine/Tires)
 
  1. Mike Truhe (2) - 126/1:00:04.6 (Team Losi Racing/GRP/Pro-Line)
  2. Billy Fischer (10) - 125/1:00:09.9 (Losi/Novarossi/Pro-Line)
  3. Jared Tebo (1) - 125/1:00:15.7 (O’Donnell/O.S./Pro-Line)
  4. Scott Hughes (9) - 124/1:00:13.5 (Mugen Seiki/O.S./Pro-Line)
  5. Adam Drake (4) - 124/1:00:20.6 (Team Losi Racing/GRP/Pro-Line)
  6. Cody King (11) - 123/1:00:06.8 (Kyosho/Sirio/AKA)
  7. Josh Wheeler (6) - 122/1:00:05.2 (XRAY/O.S./Pro-Line)
  8. Richard Saxton (12) - 121/1:00:19.1 (Team Associated/O.S./Pro-Line)
  9. Ryan Maifield (5) - 107/58:54.9 (Team Associated/O.S./JConcepts)
  10. Ryan Cavalieri (3) - 102/57:03.5 (Team Associated/Orion/Pro-Line)
  11. Ryan Lutz (8) - 52/26:15.0 (Kyosho/Sirio/AKA)
  12. Jeremy Kortz (7) - 37/19:52.6 (HoBao/Werks/Pro-Line)

Ty Tessmann also competed at the race, bumping from the 1/8-final to the quarterfinal before coming up short.

 

Photos: Radio Control Zone

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