ROAR NATS: Cavalieri topped Short Course, locked up 4WD TQ; Phend won Racing Truck, Tebo took 2WD in round three

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By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

The chase of changing track conditions continued in the third round, though Ryan Cavalieri took a step closer to taking TQ honors in every class in round three - in fact, he locked up the 4WD division. Meanwhile, two former national champions scored TQ runs that could go a long way toward improving starting position for Sunday's triple A-Mains.

Short Course Truck

By setting the fastest time in the third round, Ryan Cavalieri guaranteed himself at least a tie for the overall TQ should Spencer Rivkin take the final round on Saturday afternoon. Cavalieri ran toward the front all race long, swapping the lead position with Jared Tebo four times in the middle of the race before pulling out front for good. Cavalieri crossed the line for the only 19-lap run while Tebo made two mistakes in the final two laps, which dropped him to fourth. Maifield edged Rivkin by 33-hundredths of a second to score a ‘2’ for the round.

1. Ryan Cavalieri 19/6:17.649
2. Ryan Maifield 18/6:01.055
3. Spencer Rivkin 18/6:01.385
4. Jared Tebo 18/6:01.512
5. Kody Numedahl 18/6:04.841
6. Dustin Evans 18/6:08.434
7. Chad Due 18/6:12.781
8. David Jenson 18/6:13.791
9. Matt Chambers 18/6:13.864
10. Tanner Denney 18/6:14.112
11. Austin Horne 18/6:17.565
12. Mike Truhe 18/6:20.702
13. Paul Sinclair 17/6:01.756
14. Brad Shearer 17/6:05.522
15. Tommy Hinz 17/6:05.727
16. Mike Beaver 17/6:12.848
17. Christopher Wheeler 17/6:16.810
18. Nathan Bernal 17/6:18.498
19. Bryce Nyikes 17/6:22.790
20. Michael Twilling 8/2:47.537

Stadium Truck

A quick start to the heat for defending champion Dakotah Phend was spoiled by a crash on lap four, which dropped him to fifth and promoted Ryan Cavalieri, Cody King, Jared Tebo, and Spencer Rivkin into the top four. Within five laps, though, Phend was back out front and he cruised to a 1.5-second victory. Cavalieri and Tebo held on for second and third.

1. Dakotah Phend 19/6:04.615 
2. Ryan Cavalieri 19/6:06.168 
3. Jared Tebo 19/6:10.145 
4. Spencer Rivkin 19/6:10.833 
5. Steven Hartson 19/6:13.278 
6. Cody King 19/6:17.596 
7. Tanner Denney 19/6:17.601 
8. Tommy Hinz 19/6:20.372 
9. Brent Thielke 18/6:00.975 
10. Rob Gillespie 18/6:01.767 
11. Blake Beyett 18/6:03.684 
12. Carson Wernimont 18/6:05.041 
13. Daimon Borkowicz 18/6:05.205 
14. Alex Kosciuszek 18/6:06.609 
15. Aydin Horne 18/6:07.083 
16. Shawn Blackwell 18/6:07.576 
17. Nathan Bernal 18/6:20.184 
18. Matt Chambers 18/6:20.416 
19. Randy Pike 17/6:02.420 
20. Gary Brickman 16/6:00.385

4WD Buggy

The third round of 4WD qualifying was a two-horse race between Ryan Cavalieri and Dakotah Phend. The pair swapped the lead five times throughout the race, and their fastest single laps were within seven-thousandths of a second. They ran less than a second apart until the 4:30 mark, when a bobble by Phend let Cavalieri slip away to an eventual 2.5-second victory. Phend finished second, almost nine seconds ahead of Spencer Rivkin in third.

1. Ryan Cavalieri 20/6:01.270
2. Dakotah Phend 20/6:03.960
3. Spencer Rivkin 20/6:12.729
4. Ty Tessmann 20/6:14.320
5. Chad Due 20/6:17.243
6. Tanner Stees 20/6:18.291
7. Drew Moller 20/6:18.520
8. Steven Hartson 19/6:00.541
9. Rudy Rico 19/6:00.703
10. Jared Tebo 19/6:03.139
11. Dustin Evans 19/6:04.843
12. Rob Gillespie 19/6:05.651
13. Nathan Bernal 19/6:06.797
14. Brad Shearer 19/6:07.561
15. Carson Wernimont 19/6:08.525
16. Carter Flotron 19/6:09.587
17. Kevin Motter 19/6:10.153
18. Alejandro Vegas 19/6:10.292
19. Cody King 19/6:10.785
20. Aydin Horne 19/6:11.098

2WD Buggy

The final race of the round for the 2WD buggy class ran on a wetter-than-ideal track, and the melee that ensued showed how much of a loop it through the drivers - but it also provided an incredibly close race. For reference, here’s the lap time chart that shows each driver’s position per lap - and each time there’s an intersection, that’s a change in running order.

Cavalieri, Tebo, and Maifield all took turns leading during the first five laps of the race before reigning World Champion Tebo moved out front for good. Though the drivers behind him couldn’t quite match his pace, Tebo knew he had to push in order to beat the time set by Steven Hartson in the ‘B’ heat just a few minutes prior, and he was able to do so by less than two-tenths of a second. Ryan Cavalieri slipped as low as fifth before recovering to the second position by race end, good enough for third overall.

1. Jared Tebo 19/6:07.651
2. Steven Hartson 19/6:07.833
3. Ryan Cavalieri 19/6:08.240
4. Spencer Rivkin 19/6:09.103
5. Tanner Denney 19/6:09.888
6. Rob Gillespie 19/6:11.590
7. Ty Tessmann 19/6:13.591
8. Kody Numedahl 19/6:14.289
9. Chad Due 19/6:14.997
10. Carson Wernimont 19/6:15.795
11. Rudy Rico 19/6:16.536
12. Tommy Hinz 19/6:17.153
13. Dakotah Phend 19/6:17.241
14. Jake Mayo 19/6:17.763
15. Alex Kosciuszek 19/6:18.333
16. Drew Moller 19/6:18.597
17. Aydin Horne 19/6:18.760
18. Cody King 19/6:24.760
19. Brian Kinwald 18/6:01.114
20. Carter Flotron 18/6:04.376

Here are the points standings in all seven classes with one round left to go:

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