CACTUS: Phend and Tessman completed class sweeps, Maifield dominated the trucks, and Ty finally found 4WD pace in final round

0 March 15, 2015, 2:41 a.m.

Main Photo: CACTUS: Phend and Tessman completed class sweeps, Maifield dominated the trucks, and Ty finally foun

By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Though three of the five premier Modified classes were decided before the last round, the final qualifying round wasn’t short on drama. In particular, the buggy classes saw many early favorites struggle in the fourth round while new drivers jumped up high in the order for the first time. With the main events decided for tomorrow, and Sunday morning’s LCQ B-Mains determining the final car to start on the grid, Sunday is shaping up to be an incredible day of racing!

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SHORT COURSE 4WD MODIFIED

It was the same old song and dance for the 4x4 Short Course class, with Dakotah Phend scurrying off for the only 16-lap run and completing a clean sweep of all four rounds. Jörn Neumann recovered after a slow third round to take second ahead of David Jenson, solidifying both the starting grid and likely podium arrangement

STADIUM TRUCK MODIFIED

The Team Losi Racing teammates of Ryan Maifield and Dakotah Phend must have figured out something for the last Stadium Truck qualifier, as they both outran Ryan Cavalieri, who secured the overall TQ as Jared Tebo finished further back. Maifield was the first stadium truck driver to sneak by for a 16-lap run, a new track record for the class.

SHORT COURSE 2WD MODIFIED

Ryan Maifield carried the momentum of his best stadium truck run into the 2WD short course class, again scoring his first TQ of the weekend with a class track record. He beat overall TQ Jared Tebo by over six seconds!

BUGGY 2WD MODIFIED

Even though Ty Tessmann had already locked up the overall, he put his head down and established the utmost authority over the 2WD Buggy class at the first-ever Cactus Classic to run indoors by completing the 4-for-4 sweep. Behind him, though, was quite a mess. Spencer Rivkin came back from a nightmarish Friday to back up the “4” he put up in round three, finishing second in the round and securing a starting spot for the A-Main toward the front of the grid. Tessmann’s HB teammate David Ronnefalk again improved in the second round, scoring a “3” to go with a sixth-place finish in the second round last night to move up to the A-Main. Lee Martin snuck back into the top five for the first time since round one, bringing his points total to 8. And Ryan Maifield finished fifth for the third time this weekend.

Buggy 2WD Modified

Ty Tessmann - 16/5:14.347
Spencer Rivkin - 16/5:16.127
David Ronnefalk - 16/5:17.130
Lee Martin - 16/5:18.109
Ryan Maifield - 16/5:19.840
Steven Hartson - 15/5:00.972
Kody Numedahl - 15/5:01.111
Dustin Evans - 15/5:02.282
Brent Thielke - 15/5:02.524
Jared Tebo - 15/5:02.612
Carson Wernimont - 15/5:04.927
Tommy Hinz - 15/5:05.224
Ryan Cavalieri - 15/5:05.618
Cody Turner - 15/5:05.740
Dakotah Phend - 15/5:06.030
Jörn Neumann - 15/5:05.505
Kevin Motter - 15/5:06.643
Jason Corl - 15/5:07.011
Jake Mayo - 15/5:07.379
Taylor Larsen - 15/5:07.436

BUGGY 4WD MODIFIED

Two-time defending ROAR National Champion Ty Tessmann finally found the speed he had been lacking in 4WD. After finishing 5-9-8 in the first three rounds, he edged Ryan Maifield by nearly two-tenths of a second to score the final round win of the weekend.