The first round of Pro Truck at this year’s The Dirt Nitro Challenge was indicative of the crazy offseason that unfolded over the last few months. In fact, four of the top five drivers are running different vehicles than they were at this race last year. Perhaps just as surprising as some of the new names inside the top 10 (David Ronnefalk, Joe Bornhorst, Tanner Stees) were the names outside (Truhe, Wernimont, Cavalieri, King).
Swedish driver David Ronnefalk scampered off to the first round TQ with the fourth fastest single lap of the round - and the only 37-second average lap - to beat his teammate Tessmann by 1.7 seconds. “Apparently it was good!” said Ronnefalk of his HB D8T Tessmann Edition, the first time he has driven it in a major event. The European Champion in Buggy put in a clean run, except for a small issue in the S-turn on the second-to-last lap - when his electronics briefly shut off and came back on. Other than changing the switch to hopefully prevent a similar issue, David said that his truck felt a bit soft sometimes and he may try heavier shock oil as well. “It’s just so easy to drive,” he said.
“It was all right,” said defending champion Ty Tessmann. About the inconsistent conditions due to the water schedule, the Canadian said “The track was pretty wet, but got better as it dried out.” Tessmann crashed through the whoops at the beginning of the race, but had a clean run after that. Having run X3-compound Holeshots, he may choose M3 depending on how wet the track is before his second round.
One of two TLR drivers in the top ten (Dakotah Phend, 10th), Ryan Maifield finished less than two-tenths of a second behind Tessmann with what he called “a clean, conservative run.” With no changes to his typical 8IGHT-T 3.0 setup for this race, the Arizona native attributed the slippery conditions for the first three minutes of the race to the track being wet - but pointed out that it was the same for each heat. “It was fair, it seemed even for everyone else,” said Ryan, who ran JConcepts Chasers in Green compound but may switch to Black compound Reflexes in the second round.
In his debut race with Mugen Seiki, Adam Drake seemed relieved to finish fourth in round one. “It was good,” said Drake, who added, “I ran into a dude going up the face of the triple early in the race, and it could’ve been pretty bad.” Running virtually mistake-free after that, a late crash in the whoops cost him a chance at the top three. "I still feel like I'm driving really timid," said Drake, who added, "Everything is so new I don't feel really fluid, but apparently I'm going okay. It should only get better."
“I just tried to be consistent,” said Joe Bornhorst, perhaps the biggest surprise at the top of the charts, on his fifth-place run. Missing out on a 12-lap run by just six-tenths, Bornhorst ran Soft-compound AKA Impacts that got better and better as the track dried out. “I played it safe and tried to hit all the marks,” he added, with a run that far exceeded his expectations. “I’m pumped,” said Joe, “I knew the truck was good, but I didn’t think I would be in the top five.” Aside from mounting up fresh tires, the Ohio native will run a stiffer clutch setup for more bottom-end response.
Here are the top twenty finishers:
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