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By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com
Official practice for the 2017 ROAR 1/10-Scale Electric Off-Road Nationals will begin tomorrow morning at The Track in Gaithersburg, MD as the top drivers in North America compete in eight different classes: Modified 2WD Buggy, 4WD Buggy, 2WD Stadium Truck and 2WD Short Course; 17.5-turn Stock 2WD Buggy, 2WD Stadium Truck and 2WD Short Course; and 13.5-turn Stock 4WD Buggy.
While this year’s race won’t have any bearing on selection for the IFMAR Worlds, the ROAR Nationals is the most prestigious annual event in the U.S. for electric off-road racers; after all, the title of “national champion” carries more clout than “Classic/Shootout/Challenge winner.” In addition to watching the top racers on the continent compete in the Modified divisions, the spec classes gives regional racers and up-and-coming stars a chance to shine — including the new 13.5-turn 4WD class.
Here’s a picture of the dirt course at The Track that was posted to the facility’s Facebook page on June 9 (so it’s not the layout we’ll be racing on this weekend):
The first thing that you may notice is that the track is only four lanes deep — quite a bit smaller than the Hobbytown HobbyPlex that hosted the race last year. Also, with the sticky clay surface likely to support the use of slicks (or nearly-slick tires), expect surface changes otherwise not noticed at club races to create much bigger conflicts when 270 cars burn thousands of laps over the next four days.
Here are my picks for the drivers to pay attention to this weekend while you’re watching online:
Dakotah Phend - Team Losi Racing/Team Orion/AKA
An uncharacteristic mistake cost Phend a chance to go 3-for-3 after he had TQ’d the 2WD, 4WD and Stadium Truck classes last year at the Hobbytown HobbyPlex, where he won the 2WD and Stadium Truck classes, and there’s no reason to doubt that he couldn’t do it again. The Michigan native had a weekend to forget at the ROAR Fuel Off-Road Nationals, in his in-aws’ back yard back in June, and rebounding this weekend in Maryland would recover a lot of momentum heading into the IFMAR Worlds in China — after Phend was unable to make either main event at the 2015 Worlds in Japan. Phend rebounded from a sixth-place finish at the Reedy Race to win two of three classes at the Desert Classic. Interestingly, the ROAR website lists Phend as being signed up for 2WD Short Course, rather than the Stadium Truck class he won last year (and drivers are limited to only entering three classes at the ROAR Nats) — but I still think he’s the top choice to win all three.
Ryan Maifield - Yokomo/Team Orion/JConcepts
Phend’s perfect weekend at last year’s Nats was spoiled by then-teammate Ryan Maifield, who raced from second on the grid to win A2 and A3 for the title in 4WD Modified. After such a strong run in 2016, Maifield was the star of the offseason following a landmark switch from Team Losi Racing to Team Yokomo and Mugen Seiki Racing. The incredible highlights since then — such as dominating the Dirt Nitro Challenge and Silver State, then finishing on all three podiums including an E-Buggy win at the E-Nats — combined with the lows (failing to win either class at the ROAR Fuel Off-Road Nats) have overshadowed Maifield’s 2017 campaign in 1/10-scale, as he began his tenure with Team Yokomo by finishing in the runner-up spot at the Reedy Race and then again in all three classes he entered at the Desert Classic. Rather than run a Truck class for extra track time, Maifield is only entered for 2WD and 4WD — where I’d think that finishing on the podium and contending for a win are safe bets.
Ty Tessmann - XRAY/Team Orion/Pro-Line
Like Maifield, Tessmann made big news at the end of 2016 by moving from HB Racing to XRAY. While catastrophic mechanical issues at the Dirt Nitro Challenge was perhaps the most surprising part of 2017 for the Canadian, he’s otherwise been totally solid on the racetrack — with a career-best third at the Reedy Race, podium finishes at nearly ever major event since, and a 4WD victory at the Desert Classic. Tessmann finished second in 2WD at last year’s Nationals with the HB D216 (and third in 4WD), so one can only imagine what he may be able to accomplish with the more-refined XB2. Look for Tessmann to challenge for a podium spot in all three classes — 2WD, 4WD and Stadium Truck.
Ryan Cavalieri - Team Associated/Muchmore/JConcepts
Though he scored his record-extending fourth Reedy Race title back in January, defending short course champion Ryan Cavalieri missed the Desert Classic due to a suspension from Team Associated — so we’ve only seen him compete at one major 1/10-scale race since switching to Muchmore and JConcepts over the offseason. Last year, Cavalieri won the Short Course class — though this year he is signed up for Stadium Truck instead — but finished fourth in both Buggy classes. That was a stark contrast to the year before, where he TQ’d and won everything at Hobbytown USA in Arizona. One could never count him out of winning any event he attends, but I think we’ll have a better idea of the kind of weekend we’ll see from Cavalieri after practice tomorrow.
Spencer Rivkin - Team Associated/Reedy/JConcepts
Last year, Spencer Rivkin made the 2WD, 4WD and Stadium Truck finals but wasn’t a factor in any of them — he finished seventh, sixth and fourth respectively. He finished fourth at the Reedy Race, but Desert Classic didn’t go very well: he finished fifth in 2WD, missed the 4WD final and scored a third-place finish in Short Course. He’s been strong in 1/8-scale this year, though, including a third-place finish at the Fuel Off-Road Nationals where he entered as the defending champion. Before he defends his 2WD title at the upcoming Worlds, he’ll have to get through this weekend — which could be a big boost in confidence if he can race up front for a big win.
Jared Tebo - Kyosho/Team Orion/AKA
Jared Tebo — the 2WD world champion from 2013, and 2WD Worlds runner-up in 2015 — has had a slow start to 2017 at the first two major 1/10-scale races of the year. He was eighth at the Reedy Race — where he never seems to do as well as one might imagine — and finished sixth, seventh and seventh in 2WD, 4WD and Stadium Truck at the Desert Classic. And while he did score a brilliant victory at the ROAR Fuel Off-Road Nationals in Buggy this year, he’ll surely be hoping to turn around his performance from last year’s ROAR Electric Off-Road Nationals — where he was third in stadium truck but finished tenth in 4WD and missed the 2WD main event completely. Tebo always seems to drive his best under pressure, rather than ride a wave of strong momentum, so even if he doesn’t blow everyone away in Maryland he may be tough to beat in China.
And here are my picks to create a few surprises this weekend:
As for the Stock classes, I think the winners will likely come from this list:
However, what I’m more interested in is seeing if this rule comes up in conversation at all (since a number of those listed above could be implicated):
Oh, and if you’re tempted to look for other ROAR rules that are a bit outdated or otherwise not completely relevant:
(As a reminder/disclaimer, when I recapped the ups and downs of the ROAR Fuel Off-Road Nationals in June I acknowledged that, for all the good that the organization does for RC, the rulebook is a bit wonky and offered to help fix it. You can read that here: www.liverc.com/news/special_features/15178-WHERE%92S_WALDO%3A_Smashing_records_and_radios%3A_reflecting_on_the_ROAR_Nationals/)
Make sure to tune in all weekend long as we cover the ROAR Electric Off-Road Nationals from The Track with a moving camera feed and written coverage on our home page!
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