ROAR NATS: King and Cavalieri fastest on unofficial first practice day

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By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Silver Dollar RC Raceway operated an unofficial practice day for ROAR Fuel Off-Road Nationals entrants on Wednesday, giving the drivers their first chance to learn the layout and begin tuning their vehicles ahead of Thursday’s seeding rounds. And while the overall standings for the complete 7-minute runs means nothing going forward this week, it provided a glimpse at the drivers to watch moving into this weekend’s timed practice and qualifying heats.

“My truck was really good,” said Cody King of his ST-RR EVO II fitted with caster blocks from the MP9 buggy after setting the fastest time of the day. “We’ve been making lots of changes to it and I think it’s getting a little better. The track is fun - I like the layout, and it’s pretty fast paced. I think the grip is getting better, too. I don’t know if it’ll get a lot better, but maybe a little more by the start of qualifying.”

Ryan Lutz had a simple description for his Tekno RC NT48, as he said “It was dialed! We did a bunch of shock changes for the last run and I think we are totally set for the weekend. We were trying to find the right balance of pack and oil thickness to stop the truck from bouncing. The track is fun - consistent, smooth, but maybe a little too easy.”

Third fastest on the day, Mugen Seiki’s Adam Drake was happy with both his MBX7T and R vehicles. “I just made little changes, and I’m ready to start qualifying. The layout is really cool, and they did an awesome job. The surface is a bit tricky with it being polished - it’s not something we usually run on, but it’s the same for everybody and I think it’ll make for really close racing.

Ryan Cavalieri drove his RC8B3 to the fastest time in Buggy. Afterward, he said, “My car was good. We adjusted some stuff in the rear, like anti-squat, to carry a little more corner speed. The track is getting better - it was a little slick earlier. The layout is fast and the jumps are good.”

“It was a good first day,” said Ryan Maifield after setting the second fastest time. “The track is fun - nothing crazy. I don’t think it’s going to change much. The weather is super freaking hot, and the layout has been in for a while.”

Serpent’s Mike Truhe was totally pleased with his Serpent Cobra 2.2 buggy after Day One. “It’s good - actually, it’s really good. I’m planning on making a few changes to make it a little bit more stable so I can try to go faster. The track’s good, too. It has more grip than I expected. The surface is still polished, but I think it’s manageable.