ROAR NATS: Tessmann tops first round of Buggy qualifying

0 June 20, 2014, 11:21 a.m.

6/20/2014

By Aaron Waldron

LiveRC

The only thing thicker at Thornhill Racing Circuit than the tension in the pits for the first round was the humidity, with each driver looking to start off Buggy class qualifying with a clean run in the rising heat. The round culminated in a thrilling battle on the clock between the fastest drivers from yesterday's practice - not coincidentally the fastest three racers over the last few years.

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Fresh off the track after setting TQ, Ty Tessmann said his Hot Bodies D812 was “loose like it was yesterday, but drivable.” As the only driver to make it by for a 10-lap run, it didn't matter that he ran out of gas on the final lap. He said that as long as the track conditions stay the way they are, there’s not much you can do - just have to manage to get around the track as fast as possible. Ty said the hole in the face of the center double is getting worse, and the slow corners on the left side of the track are starting to blow out. Tessmann said he didn’t make any mistakes, but got squirrelly a few times - just not enough to cost him any time. Depending on the weather for the second round he might change shock oil to suit the temperature, but nothing else.

After a rough couple days of practice Tebo said his “car was really good, the track is just loose.” After working a lot on the car yesterday it “lacked a bit of steering but was the best it has been so I’ll just drive it,” though he’d consider lowering the front ride height to pivot harder in corners. He added that the engine felt great, and that his run was pretty clean except for one particular lap in which both Ryan Lutz and Adam Drake crashed in front of him and he had to check up.

With zero complaints about his car but complained that he pushed too wide in the corners, especially through the tricky 90-degree turns on the left side, Dakotah Phend said that next round he’ll “just drive easier and focus on maximizing my lines.” He had one crash in the sharp left-hand turn at the end of the back straight, when he drove in too hard and flipped. Instead of adjusting his car for the next round, last year’s TQ said he’ll “try to improve his driving.”

Carson Wernimont said his car was easy to drive, and he could “push really hard and still put in good laps.” He got off on a good start behind Tessmann but ran into a bit of traffic - which he admitted seems to be a problem for everyone. Still, he was happy to “put in a clean, safe run” and may consider small tweaks looking for more forward grip on the greasy track surface, but admitted that he needed to work on carrying more corner speed.

Two-time national champion Ryan Cavalieri said his car was “much better” than it was throughout practice after going to heavier shock oil. He didn’t have any crashes, just had to slow up for other cars on the track. When asked about any changes for the second round he said “it’s an RC8 - I’ll just run it.”

Having only worn glasses since the Silver State Nitro Challenge earlier this year XRAY’s Josh Wheeler led the team with a fifth-place run, and after removing the hub weights from his XB8 his car was harder to drive but capable of faster laps. He was very happy to turn in fifth-place scores in both classes in the Friday morning round. Sticking with Soft-compound Impacts he planned no changes for Friday afternoon.

Pictured enjoying a celebratory cupcake, Dallas-area local Josh Glancy sat ninth in the first round of Buggy, the only driver at Thornhill Racing Circuit who said his car had both “lots of steering and traction” having chose Pro-Line X2 Hole Shots. In his third ROAR Nationals, Glancy expects to do a lot better this year and that the pressure to do well has worn off, so he’s just trying to be consistent. Josh had an interesting start to his week, towing the Indy R/C pit trailer for the nearly 200 miles from Garland to Hutto his truck broke down on Tuesday, so he had to sit at a Ford dealership for four hours while his blower belt was replaced.