ROAR NATS: Tessmann secures share of TQ with clean sweep of Day One [VIDEO}

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By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

As with any race, it’s important to get off to a good start in the four-round IFMAR-style qualifying format at the ROAR Fuel Off-Road Nationals - and that put plenty of pressure on the top drivers in the first round of qualifying. The hot weather and tough track conditions made such a solid start a tall order for some, and there was one particular driver who handled the challenge better than anyone else.

“It started off kinda crazy,” said Ty Tessmann - with just 30 seconds left in warm-up, the race officials tacked on an additional minute of warm-up without explanation and that meant Tessmann and his pit crew (his parents) had to make an on-the-fly call to come back into pit lane to fill up again. “It confused me, but I was able to get off to a good start,” said Tessmann, “I didn’t crash or anything - it was the same as round one, basically. It seemed like the track had a little bit more grip, and I got by everyone without any problems.

AMain.com team driver Dylan Rodriguez recovered nicely from a tough first round with the second fastest time of the day. “I’m honestly surprised,” said the Las Vegas native, “I ran X1 Holeshots that had been run once before, and they were really good.” Dylan opted to run the worn set to save a set of the harder compound tires for tomorrow. “I made one little mistake near the beginning of the race when I nicked a pipe through the front section and went a little wider than normal,” explained Rodriguez. The young racing veteran was encouraged by the result and hopes to score one more solid finish tomorrow. “It was nice to have a run like that,” he said.

Josh Wheeler clinched a strong starting position for the final with another top three finish. “It was really good, but the run started off slow - I chose X1-compound tires, and they were were a little slick for the first two or three minutes. They took longer to come in than the first round. I slowly worked my way up as the tires came in and people in front of me made mistakes.” The switch from X2 to X1 was the only change he made to his XRAY XT8, and the run convinced him to run X2 in Buggy. Wheeler explained that his run was pretty clean, but that the tires weren’t the only reason he took a while to get into a rhythm. “I was really close to Tebo in the beginning and I think that hurt both of us a little bit. We never got into each other, but racing neck and neck is always tough in qualifying.”

Here’s a replay of the ‘A’ and ‘B’ heats from the second round of Truck.

Tessmann set the fastest time in Buggy as well by 4.65 seconds despite being slightly unhappy with his HB D815 Tessmann Worlds Edition. “It was a little bit soft in the back,” said the defending national and world champion, “so we might try a thicker rear sway bar for the next round.” Tessmann didn’t take the lead in the heat until the fifth lap as both Josh Wheeler and Jared Tebo got off to a faster start, but once out front he stayed well clear of the rest of the pack. “I had a little bit of a hectic start trying to get through traffic, but once I got through I got in the groove and it was fine after that.”

“It was good,” said Ryan Cavalieri of both his run and his Team Associated RC8B3. “We left it the same from the first round, I just didn’t flip over,” said the former national champion, who stuck with AKA’s unnamed prototype tire in the developmental Green-Yellow compound. “The car came in a little quicker in the beginning, but the track was also more dusty that time,” he added.

“It was pretty good,” said Dakotah Phend, “I had a bit of a rough start with a couple of bobbles that I probably could’ve cleaned up, but no one has a perfect run I don’t think.” Phend said the switch to X1-compound Electrons - as well as the warmer temperatures - gave his car more traction and it was also less edgy than the first round. “I’m not sure yet if I’ll change anything tomorrow,” said Phend, “I have two ‘okay’ runs so I might want to try something. The car feels good, I just need to pick up a little bit more speed.”

Here’s a replay of the ‘A’ and ‘B’ heats from the second round of Buggy.

After two rounds of qualifying, here are the points in both classes: