Welcome to this year's edition of the 2013 ROAR 1:8 Nationals LiveRC Race Blog! In this space you will find important links, photos, schedules, results, and other various blog-style commentary about the happenings here in Houston!
So here we are at Gulf Coast R/C Raceway in Porter, Texas- a small suburban community located just north of Houston. These suburbs are not foreign to large races. In fact, Gulf Coast R/C Raceway hosted the IFMAR 200mm IC (nitro touring car) World Championships just a few years ago. Just a few miles up the road at the now defunct K&M Raceway, two ROAR Electric Off-Road Modified Nationals took place within the last 16 years ('97, '02). So these Houston hobbyists know a thing or two about putting on a good show and -- from everything we can see on day one -- we are in for another great event this week!
For those not familiar with Gulf Coast R/C Raceway, let me just say right now that it may be one of the most dialed set-ups we've ever seen. There are two world-class nitro tracks -- dirt and asphalt -- separated by a large building with indoor and sheltered pits, a BBQ joint, and a bar. That's right, meat and beer sandwiched by two of the nicest tracks you will ever see. Not to mention, the off-road track is covered by a roof so there will never be a race cancelled due to rain.
I think it's safe to assume most of us have day dreamed of some pretty elaborate R/C facilities that we would build if we won the lottery. I am telling you right now that this place is probably as close as we will ever get to what a nitro racer's lotto-winning day dream looks like.
Tomorrow we will strap on our swim fins and snorkels, paddle our way to the track through the humid air, and continue setting up and getting ready for our broadcast to officially begin on Thursday!
Programming note: your hosts for the weekend will be MC Charlie Suangka and his 2010 IFMAR Worlds sidekick Marshall "Statmaster 5000" Skare!
In the mean time, here are some pictures of things:
The circuit here in Houston -- it is one of the longest (width) you will ever see
A brief rain shower on Tuesday went practically unnoticed under the massive roof
The driver's stand in longer than most electric tracks' straightaways. You could literally fit 60 people on it.
This is just some of the pit area available to racers this weekend. Through the windows on the back wall is the 2010 IFMAR 200mm World Championship asphalt circuit.
That's it for our first setup day! Tomorrow drivers hit the track for the first time. Scoring should be running all day and we may have video here and there while we continue to get our equipment dialed in. See you tomorrow!
Today was a much louder day at the track. The soon-to-be-implanted-in-the-memory-of-our-eardrums-for-the-next-three-weeks sound of nitro engines bellowed about under the hot tin roof all day on Wednesday. On the track, drivers were privileged to a few rounds of track-organized practice before the official ROAR practice begins Thursday.
Tomorrow we begin the actual practice. Drivers will look to seed themselves in good qualifying heats by setting their fastest three-consecutive laps in a row during the practice rounds. Once we begin these timed rounds, a vision of how things might play out will begin to shape into its earliest form. As of right now, all of the usual suspects appear to be setting the pace. For what it's worth, during the one round of practice that was timed today Ryan Maifield set the fastest laps and time, while Dakotah Phend set the fastest lap. These runs, however, were filled with drivers not running transponders and pit stops aplenty.
Let's take a look at the track layout as driven by the defending 2012 national champion:
Many of you know about our JConcepts Pit Report that features track side and pit interviews during our live broadcast. This year, in addition to the standard JConcepts Pit Reporting, Jason Ruona will be taking photos and uploading them to our Instagram account all weekend. We will share a few of them with you here each day, but if you want the full Jason Ruona experience, make sure you follow @LiveRC and @JConcepts on Instagram!
Here are a few of today's shots fromt the JConcepts Instagram Pit Report:
The pond that sits near the pit area may end up looking like a tropical beach oasis we can't resist jumping into after a few days of power sweating
The track as viewed from the Gulf Coast Skybox -- an area that houses a bar and seating area. Sadly, I found out today that this area is closed to the public
The dirt is not like what 1:8 drivers normally run on. It is more of an indoor type surface. It reminds us a lot of the Neo Race tracks.
Last year's second place finisher Dakotah Phend had the fastest lap that we saw during the somewhat-timed practice today
All sights are set on 2012 double national champion Ty Tessmann, who will officially begin the defense of his titles during ROAR timed practice on Thursday
MORE PRACTICE. We've had enough of it already! By this time tomorrow we will be discussing some actual race results.
Today, two rounds of practice were run. The track has changed quite a bit since cars started running on it yesterday. The groove has come in and portions of the surface have began to chunk apart. It's still too early to tell exactly what will happen with the track and many drivers are taking a "wait and see" approach to how they will set up their machines for racing conditions this weekend.
Today's practice heats also served as a tool to seed tomorrow's qualifying heats. Each drivers fastest three consecutive lap times were calculated and compared to one another in order to rank the field.
So far, things are looking very similar to how they finished last year with both Ty Tessmann and Dakotah Phend looking the strongest in the buggy division. Dakotah, however, has the upper hand so far this year. Today was Phend's second consecutive day with the fastest buggy lap.
Here is how heat "A" looks in each class:
Here we go! The last rounds of practice were run today. Time to get real.
Josh Wheeler was running his practice headlights
Ryan Cavalieri's lids looking fresh like always. He always sets the standard for how immaculate an R/C car can be made to look.
Those Nutter Butters are more than likely melted
Jared Tebo practicing in the first session of the day
Team Tessmann looks as prepared as can be to make a run at the elusive back-to-back 1:8 ROAR National Championship
JConcepts Pit Report -- Ty Tessmann interview:
Another day of toy car racing and heat-induced madness! Today, two of the four scheduled rounds of qualifying for the event were run. One thing to note about the qualifying program- the truggy division will qualify into and run standard mains, while the buggy division will run ladder style finals.
Now, on to the racing.
If Dakotah Phend knocked on the door to prominence at the 2010 nationals, and beat on the door last year, this year he is kicking it in. (That was a special reference for all of you old Houston Oilers fans out there)
Dakotah put on a clinic today while setting the benchmark for overall laps and time as well as hot lap en route to TQ'ing three of four rounds of qualifying.
The most telling moment of the day was Q2 of buggy. Phend was put in perfect position to fail when he fell through the field after being held up by a few slower cars whom were less than courteous to him. He wasn't rattled and responded to the challenge by charging back to the front and easily taking the round win. The Dakotah of the past most likely would not have been able to do this. This year, he is calm, confident, and looks to be the man to beat after two days of timed runs.
Ty Tessmann may not agree just yet. The 2012 double champ finished second and third to Phend in buggy, and TQ'ed the lone non-Phend dominated round today- Truggy Q1.
Elsewhere, the entire TLR team is looking extremely fast. Adam Drake is continuing his strong 2013 campaign and Mike Truhe is having a resurgence into his top form of yesteryear.
Team Associated continued to struggle today. Aside from a few top 10 runs by Steven Hartson, "The Team" was completely off the "contending radar." They've been in these situations before, though, and we've seen their teamwork and strategy pull them out of funks and into contention. It's too early to count them out yet.
Results -- Truggy Q1, Heat "A"
JConcepts Pit Report -- Post-Race, Truggy Q1 -- Ty Tessmann, Adam Drake
Buggy Q1 Heat "A" -- complete video -- This is a sample of the type f coverage you will get all weekend long on LiveRC! All races will be available to All Access Pass members both live and through our RVA (on-demand) video system!
Our very own Ross Walters came to Texas prepared for battle.
So far, the story of the day -- and the event -- is the dominating performance of Dakotah Phend. He came as close to winning last year as one can. This year he looks to be even more ready to break through for his first premiere class win at a major race.
Ty Tessmann captured the zero in Truggy Q1
Mike Truhe is having a great weekend so far. The 2008 champ has been running nitro lately and it shows.
Truhe's teammate Adam Drake is having a great year so far and is looking to add two strong finishes this weekend to the list.
2013 "The Dirt" Nitro Challenge winner Ryan Maifield is having a less than great week so far. His troubles include a DQ in Truggy Q1 for being underweight and a re-sort spot in Heat "C" for Buggy Q3. We hear he and his teammates Ryan Cavalieri and Richard Saxton are working hard to improve their suspension packages.
Ryan Lutz made the best out of being in the "B" resort of truggy. He scored a 3 and a 5 in Q1 and Q2, respectively. We will see if he is able to continue his success in Heat "A" tomorrow.
At the end of the day, Phend TQ'ed three of four rounds of qualifying Friday. His two zeros in the buggy division secure him a share of the overall TQ.
Any question anyone may have had about whether or not Dakotah Phend's level of domination in buggy qualifying Friday would dwindle away as qualifying went on had them quickly answered in Q3. Phend quickly dismantled the field Saturday morning showing every bit as much confidence and speed as he did Friday.
There are a few factors that will determine whether or not Phend can convert in the semi and final. The main variable that we keep hearing about is the change in tire tread pattern and compound that will likely take place amongst the field. Most drivers ran qualifying on small pin tires -- some even choose to run worn in tires. This will not be possible during the grueling one-hour final on Sunday evening. We will most likely see the entire field on different tires than what they used during the majority of qualifying. Because of this, things are very much still in the air. Many drivers chose to test tires for the final in Q4.
One driver who did not get a chance to test bigger lugs was, in fact, Dakotah Phend. The TLR/Pro-Line team sent Phend out for Q4 on "final tires" but he was unable to run do to his engine coming loose. We've seen many cases of drivers having "untouchable" speed on certain tires during qualifying and then falling back to the pack once they get on big lugs. Time will tell if this is the case for Phend.
The rest of the TLR team continued their march on the 2012 nats today, with Adam Drake and Mike Truhe both turing in round wins in truggy and buggy, respectively. Drake and Truhe, along with Phend, made up three-fourths of a four-way tie for the TQ spot in truggy. They would ultimately lose the ceremonial position to Hot Bodies Ty Tessmann, but their showing thus far is extremely impressive- the best we've seen out of the TLR team as a whole in some time.
Results -- Truggy Q3, Heat "A"
JConcepts Pit Reports:
*RACE VIDEO* -- Buggy Q3, Heat "A"
Results -- Buggy Q3, Heat "A"
JConcepts Pit Reports:
"The Pro-Line Beetle Challenge, with Denver Houghton!"
Results -- Truggy Q4, Heat "A"
JConcepts Pit Reports:
Results -- Buggy Q4, Heat "A"
JConcepts Pit Reports:
This was pretty much the story of the day, sadly
The beetle meets his last new friend before he would meet his maker...
Yes, in case you didn't hear or read about about it, Denver Houghton ate the bug in the previous picture...for 400 bucks!
Cheer up, Denver! You're 400 dollars richer and have become a legend in the R/C world.
In other random happenings, this showed up in the dirt parking lot of the track...
Back on the track was where the story REALLY was, though, and Dakotah Phend led the way by winning Q3 and locking up the overall buggy TQ!
Defending champ Ty Tessmann had just enough to break an unprecedented four-way points tie with Dakotah Phend, Adam Drake, and Mike Truhe atop the truggy division.
Truggy Final (Finals are "bump-up" style)
Buggy Semi-Finals (Finals are "ladder" style)
Tune in tomorrow to see how it all ends!
TRUGGY FINAL
Final Results (Truggy)
Ty Tessmann successfully defended his 2012 truggy title, and did so in the most dominating fashion possible- with a TQ and wire-to-wire final win.
(From left to right) Ryan Lutz, Ty Tessmann, Mike Truhe
JConcepts Pit Reports
BUGGY FINAL
Final Results (Buggy)
TQ Dakotah Phend had mechanical issues in the semi-final, but was still in good spirits.
(From left to right) Mike Truhe, Adam Drake, Cody King
JConcepts Pit Report
Finals Day Recap
That concludes our coverage of the 2013 ROAR 1:8 IC Off-Road Nationals! On behalf of Charlie Suangka, Marshall Skare, Ross Walters, Kendall Welch, Jason Ruona, and Brandon Rohde, this is Eric Swanson signing off!
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