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Aug. 10, 2012, 11:52 a.m.
8/10/12
By Eric Swanson
LiveRC.com
UPDATE: The schedule for the second leg (Short Course and 1:8) of the Supernationals has changed. The finals have been moved from Sunday to Saturday. Three rounds of qualifying will be run Friday and one Saturday morning.
This week, electric off-roaders from all over the nation will pack themselves into the world famous West Coast R/C Raceway (home of the Reedy IORROC) to decide whom will capture a number of different national championships. This year's event marks the first time all electric off-road classes will be run at one event.
Well, sort of.
The "Supernationals," as ROAR is referring to them as, is actually two sperate events. both events are comprised similarly to way they were last year, except they both will be run at the same facility during the same week (only a day separates the two events). The only real change is that short course classes have been moved to the second leg of the event where they will run along side the 1:8 classes.
Nobody knows whether this format will remain the same in the coming years, but it will make for a lot of racing in the upcoming week! LiveRC is there to provide our "Bonus Lap" broadcast, which will include a moving camera!
UPDATED: Here are the dates you need to know:
August 11-14
1:10 2WD, 4WD, Truck
UPDATED: August 16-18
2WD/4WD SCT, 1:8 EP Buggy and Truck
Important links:
What to watch for:
Jared Tebo will be leading the charge for
Team Kyosho, whom will be seeking to put their
new 2WD buggy into the winner's circle during its "official" debut (the car actually was ran at the Hot Rod Shootout a few weeks ago, but was still in stealth mode).
The
TLR 4WD. I know, I pretty much speculate about its existence before practically every electric off-road race, but one of these times, I tell you, it will show up. It has to. There is no reason TLR would keep running the re-incarnated bones of a platform that is old enough to get its driver's licence if it were a human. I can't imagine TLR sells any 4WD buggies. Then why run the class? Why sign up for it at each race? They will show their hand soon. Maybe as soon as tomorrow, when the TLR team,
all of whom are signed up for 4WD, hits the track.
Ryan Cavalieri is always associated as being the "top gun" who is most closely affiliated with WCRC. While the world champ does call the track "home," there are a lot of other guys whose names you may not recognize that call the track home as well. And, as history has proven, a home-track advantage can do wonders for a guy trying to make his name at the ROAR nats. Will a local WCRC hero step up to the plate and throw it in the show? Or how about a seasoned veteran of the pro circuit who may be more comfortable racing on their home track? Watch out for guys like Steven Hartson, who probably have a million laps on WCRC dirt that might have a run at the podium in them.
This year's Reedy Race open class champion Chad Due showed us that he had the times to run in the invite class last January. Can he transfer that winter speed into a summer race at WCRC and make a return to the A-main at the nats?
Speaking of Reedy Race champions, the 2011 invite champ and defending ROAR 2WD modified national champion Dustin Evans also has quite a bit of comfort with the WCRC track.
We'll get closer to answering all of these questions after a few rounds of qualifying. Stay tuned!
West Coast R/C Raceway
Qualifying, day one:
So we haven't quite answered all of those questions I referenced earlier, but we do know a few things.
First, an update to TLR 4WD Watch 2012 - there is no new 4WD at the Supernats. There are a bevy of TLR 'wheelers here though. Most drivers chose the "dirt sedan," AKA: the XXX4. A wise pick considering the smoothness of the WCRC track. So the official stance on this is...we wait until the next race! It's bound to happen eventually.
Next we learned that Ryan Cavalieri is fast on his home track. No surprise there. RC secured a share of the overall TQ in 2WD and truck, and split zeroes with Jared Tebo in 4WD. I think it's safe to say that any mod title won on Tuesday night will have to go through Ryan.
Aside from that, the major story of the day was the track. For a round and a half, the track was watered in between classes. This meant that the first heats of each class drove on a wetter track than the latter heats. This proved to be a significant advantage for some and a huge disadvantage for others.
During the second round, it was decided that watering would stop and sweeping would instead be the weapon of choice for the track crew. This move is proving to be much more consistant to the drivers and has leveled-out some of the erratic results we saw in Q1. However, this will most likely remain a talking point as the first round provided a few guys that would normally be in the B or C main "A-main" runs. We'll see how things shake out tomorrow and if those runs become a factor in someone either being in or out of the show come main time.
Here is how they stand after Q1 and Q2:
2WD Mod 4WD Mod Truck Mod
Maifield had a rough run in Q1 but made up for it in Q2 by almost TQ'ing. A bad last lap pushed his run to third overall.
Dakotah Phend's NOT new TLR 4WD awaits a run.
Everyone's favorite Canadian, Ty Tessmann! Looks like he is still running his "chopped and channeled" B4.1.
For those of you that may not know, Hayato Matsuzaki has actually been living in the U.S. while he goes to school - hence his attendance at these Supernationals.
What are you aiming at, Charles?
Those wheels! Make it stop!
BT and Dustin Evans possibly discussing the details of his future contract. That's what Gahan gets for being at the Euros instead of the Supernats! ;)
Tebo's new ride is looking pretty good so far. He is currently second.
The pick-up truck: A true "riches to rags to riches" story. Last year there were like12 entires. This year: 47.
Cody Turner had a hell of a day in 2WD. He is sitting third overall.
Try as hard as you like, but you cannot escape from the SUPERNATIONALS. It's like a prison of R/C excitement and wonderment. Tune in all week on LiveRC.com!
Qualifying, day two:
We all knew Ryan Cavalieri would be fast, but I don't think anyone knew he would be as dominant as he was throughout qualifying. After today's final round finished up, he had secured the fastest time in 10 out of the 12 rounds he competed in.
Teammate Ryan Maifield was able to lock up the second spot on the prestigious 2WD Modified grid by snatching away a round TQ from Cavalieri in Q4.
Yesterday's surprise Cody Turner put in a less successful day of qualifying today, but is still sitting mid-pack in the A-main. We saw Cody turn some of the fastest laps of the event in his heats today. Remember what I said before about someone using a home-track advantage as a spring board to making a name for themselves? Cody Turner looks to be the 2012 example. How big of a name he makes for himself will depend on if he can make his way towards the front of the pack.
Jesse Robbers is looking like the 2004 version of himself this year. The former 2WD-national-champion-turned-nitro-guy showed that he still has the finger to finagle a 2WD machine into the A-main. However, he made it by the narrowest of margins: It took a .4 second tie-breaker with Associated's Brent Thielke to do it.
Elsewhere, usual suspects fill the roster out for the A-mains. You got your Dustin Evanses here, Dakotah Phends there; add a sprinkling of a Tessmann and a Numedahl and you have the recipe for tomorrow's main events.
However, special shout-outs are in order for Tanner Denney who made it into the 4WD A-main and Chad Due who made the show in both 4WD and Truck.
They will all be mixing it up tomorrow! Tune in all day for the triple A-mains!
Final qualifying order (modified):
2WD Modified
4WD Modified 
Truck Modified 
Not quite a Banksy, but justifiable considering the canvas.
Take a gander at how LiveRC Lead Camera Operator Bob Kendall watches the world's best racing.
World-renown race director Jimmy Babcock hard at work. If you are ever in the hills of Santa Clarita, California, wave to him.
Likewise, if you're ever in Orange County, stop by and say hi to Nick Black, Jimmy's right-hand-man during ROAR races. Here, he is seen guarding the announcer's booth in troll-like fashion.
Rick-dogg, fresh off his A-main performance at the on-road worlds a couple weeks ago, is in attendance.
Brian Kinwald has forgotten more about winning ROAR nationals than most of the field will ever know.
That's it for qualifying! Tune in tomorrow to watch the final events!
2WD, 4WD and Truck finals:
I wonder if, someday, Ryan Cavalieri will wake up in the middle of the night, sweating, having just replayed the two qualifying rounds in which he did not TQ in a nightmare? Will he wake up wishing he could have put the last finishing touches on what would have been absolute perfection? I mean, if you're so dominant at something you have to elevate your expectations to the next level in order to stay motivated, right?
OK, he is still probably pretty happy with how he performed. Any nightmare he has in the future regarding R/C racing probably won't involve the 2012 nationals.
In reality, Ryan's weekend will go down as one of the best performances in RC history. Right up there with Brian Kinwald destroying the field in Houston in '97 and RC himself putting on a clinic in ABQ a decade later. However, I still can't help but imagine what it would have been like to see a perfect national. Wouldn't it have been great to say you witnessed that?
Although, maybe he didn't need those two rounds. Maybe he didn't need to lead wire-to-wire. Maybe I'm bored with Ryan Cavalieri winning so I've created new expectations for him to still be entertaining -- kind of like expecting the 2007 New England Patriots to go undefeated because just winning a Super Bowl would have been boring to watch. Maybe my own expectations of him have risen too far.
The chances are better that what we saw was perfection. What if what we saw, when paired with the other performances we've seen from Ryan over the last year, was the culmination of the greatest run any driver in the history of off-road R/C racing has ever had? Maybe he will never get more dominant than this. Maybe we all witnessed the pinnacle performance; one that R/C history geeks will remember for decades to come.
Either way, there is no denying that this man is quickly approaching G.O.A.T. status with an electric off-road car. I think it's safe to say his racing accomplishments now clearly outshine that of Brian Kinwald, Mark Pavidis and Matt Francis. The only career left for him to conquer is Masami's.
--
We want to give a huge congrats to not only Ryan, but also the new ROAR national champions in the 17.5 classes!
Kevin Motter -- 2WD 17.5
Zack Genova -- 4WD 17.5
Nolan Anderson -- Truck 17.5
These guys battled hard to win their titles and deserve recognition!
That will put a wrap on the "traditional" leg of the ROAR Electric Off-Road Nationals. Up next will be the Short Course and 1:8 Electric portion of the event, which runs from Thursday through Sunday. Of course, you can watch it all on LiveRC.com!
2WD, 4WD, TRUCK -- FINAL RESULTS:
2WD 17.5 (L-R): Nolan Anderson, Kevin Motter, Zack Genova
4WD 17.5 (L-R): Nick Sava, Zack Genova, Jason Dias
Truck 17.5 (L-R): Kevin Motter, Nolan Anderson, Zack Genova
2WD Modified (L-R): Jared Tebo, Ryan Cavalieri, Ryan Maifield
4WD Modified (L-R): Jared Tebo, Ryan Cavalieri, Dakotah Phend
Truck Modified (L-R): Ryan Maifield, Ryan Cavalieri, Dustin Evans
Friday -- Short Course and 1:8 qualifying
UPDATE: The schedule for the second leg (Short Course and 1:8) of the Supernationals has changed. The finals have been moved from Sunday to Saturday. Three rounds of qualifying will be run Friday and one Saturday morning.
As the first day of qualifying began, many eyes were on Ryan Cavalieri to see if it looked possible for him to complete a six-for-six sweep of the entire Supernationals. It quickly became evident that he wouldn't be nearly as dominant in this leg of the event...
Here's who was:
Ryan Maifield had his SC104X4 working exceptionally well on the WCRC track, having TQ'ed two rounds of qualifying today and securing a share of the overall TQ. Taking the other round was Ty Tessmann, who is running a TLR 4WD SCT for the event since Hot Bodies doesn't offer a vehicle for the class.
Maifield's 2WD SCT proved to be good too, as Ryan piloted it to two round TQ's and another share of an overall SCT TQ. Teammate and recently crowned 2WD, 4WD, and Truck champion Ryan Cavalieri is sitting in second and it appears the duo will be tough to beat.
The biggest class of the second leg of the event (in both turnout and scale), ended up being the 1:8 eBuggy class. Like most other 1:8 races this year, it was dominated by Ty Tessmann, who looks more and more like the "Ryan Cavalieri" of 1:8 racing this year. Tessmann TQ'ed all three rounds to secure the overall TQ tomorrow.
The final round of qualifying will be run tomorrow morning, followed by the finals. We will have full results and podium pictures tomorrow night, so if you miss the racing, check back here to catch up on what you missed!
One of the many photos from "Bob and Charlie's Day Off at the Supernationals"
1:8 indoors on the track we just crowned a 1:10 2WD national champ on? MADNESS. It works great, though. The larger cars handle the WCRC track just fine, from the looks of things.
The elusive Lou-Dogg in his natural Southern California habitat. You can find Lou-Doggs near large patches of bare soil where there is an abundance of model car parts that need building readily available. The Lou-Dogg requires a steady diet of Starbucks coffee to survive.
Nobody has cleaner cars than Ryan Cavalieri. Nobody.
Washington's Scott Brown is on-hand for the SCT portion of the event.
So is Brian Kinwald. Brian has developed into somewhat of a "Short Course Guru" in this part of his career. If you look closely, you can see some custom parts on his SC10 4X4. He was instrumental in the development of the newer battery configuration and the chassis stiffener found in the latest rendition of the 4X4.
Jared Tebo is lurking behind the AE team in 2WD SCT. He will try to leapfrog them tomorrow.
FINAL RESULTS-2WD SCT
1. Ryan Cavalieri
2. Ryan Maifield
3. Jared Tebo
1. Kevin Motter
2. Jason Dias
3. Matt Gilbert
1. Ryan Maifield
2. Dakotah Phend
3. Ty Tessmann
1:8
1. Ty Tessmann
2. Steven Hartson
3. Jared Tebo
This concludes our coverage of the 2012 ROAR Supernationals! While it may or may not continue as a "Supernational" in the future, this particular situation worked wonderfully, given the nature of West Coast's track and facility.
Like always, we would like to give a huge thanks to all of you who tuned in this week!
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