2006 ROAR Electric Off-road Mod Nats -- Live Coverage!

[MattHiggins]

I'm here at Planet RC in Lawrence, IN--right outside of Indianapolis. It's raining, but who cares? This track is indoors.

The Mod Nats consists of three classes: 2WD buggy, 4WD buggy and stadium truck. All classes run, you guessed it, modified motors.

We're about halfway through controlled practice, and the general consensus is that the track is a fast, easy layout. The hardest part seems to be the series of large jumps directly in front of the drivers' stand. Most drivers are taking this as a double, triple, but landing the triple doesn't look all that simple.

Here are some shots to get you started:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/mehiggins101/DSC_0409.jpg
The track

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/mehiggins101/DSC_0399.jpg
Team Losi's Adam "The Drake" Drake

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/mehiggins101/DSC_0412.jpg
The pits

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/mehiggins101/DSC_0393.jpg
Up-and-comer Mike Wilder Jr.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/mehiggins101/DSC_0404.jpg

[CCristo]

Good luck Mikey and all the other RCE guys

[XXXT Racer]

Good luck guys!! RCE is the best.

[MattHiggins]

I'll be keeping an eye on Mikey. I'm sure he'll represent.

[MattHiggins]

The track looks good and appears to stay relatively consistent. It did look a little looser this afternoon than in the late morning. The owner stated that the track is made of 95% clay with the rest being sand, some lime and a little spit to hold it all together. Scott, the owner, said the track holds up really well and will maybe only get loose if the surface gets glossy.

[MattHiggins]

> The schedule calls for practice until 10 PM this evening (Friday).
> The end of practice will consist of some mock qualifiers.
> Practice times are not being used to seed qualifying. Instead, seeding for qualifying will be random.
> Qualying will consist of four rounds with each driver's best three counting.
> The standard ROAR qual. points system will be used.
> There will be a single resort after the second round.

[MattHiggins]

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/mehiggins101/DSC_0453.jpg
Jared Tebo

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/mehiggins101/DSC_0422.jpg
Brent Thielke

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/mehiggins101/DSC_0459.jpg
Mike Truhe

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/mehiggins101/DSC_0462.jpg
Adam Drake

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/mehiggins101/DSC_0447.jpg
Gil Losi Jr.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/mehiggins101/DSC_0443.jpg
Ryan Maifield

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/mehiggins101/DSC_0432.jpg
Ryan Cavalieri

[vaderbxman]

looking good!! I can't wait for the stadium trucks to run, because that looks like the class to watch!

[scoob]

Thanks alot guys. This live race coverage you guys have been doing is great. Thumbs up. :)

[MrSHEP]

i new i should have went :(


keep up the great work Matt, thanks

[associatedude92]

Do you know who's running brushless and who isn't, and does everyone run lipo's??Don't know how many people run lipo's and who doesn't??

[ARNO]

Nice pics Matt
Kyosho/Pavidis not attending the race?

[StevePond]

Arno, I can answer that one. Unfortunately, Mark just returned from a race, and will be leaving for the 1/8 Off-Road Worlds next week, which doesn't allow him enough time to make it to the mod nats this year.

[CCristo]

Do you know who's running brushless and who isn't, and does everyone run lipo's??Don't know how many people run lipo's and who doesn't??

No one is running Lipos. They are not ROAR legal

[fuzzychickens]

They're not roar legal and they won't be until well after the rest of the hobby (hobbyists and local racers) has given up on nimh batteries and switched to lipo and li-ion.

They aren't very proactive.

[MattHiggins]

Nice pics Matt
Kyosho/Pavidis not attending the race?No Pavidis. There are a number of people running Kyosho 4WD buggies, though.

[MattHiggins]

1. Mike Truhe
2. Ryan Cavalieri
3. Jesse Robbers
4. Ryan Maifield
5. Brent Thielke
6. Dave Montgomery
7. Chad Due
8. Allen Horne
9. Chris Pisano
10. Billy Fischer

On the outside looking in: Adam Drake, Jimmy Babcock and Jared Tebo.

This is after a single round of qualifying. You can count on this list changing.

[MattHiggins]

1. Jared Tebo
2. Billy Easton
3. Mike Truhe
4. Dave Montgomery
5. Adam Drake
6. Ronnie Gardner
7. Rob Schaffer
8. Allen Horne
9. Ryan Dawson
10. Brent Thielke

On the outside looking in: Jimmy Babcock, Ryan Cavalieri, Ryan maifield and Jesse Robbers.

[MattHiggins]

1. Jesse Robbers
2. Mike Truhe
3. Brent Thielke
4. Dave Montgomery
5. Ryan Cavalieri
6. Adam Drake
7. Jimmy Babcock
8. Ryan Dawson
9. Brandon Rohde
10. Steve Hartson

On the outside looking in: Jared Tebo and Ryan Maifield. You can count on these two knocking someone out of the top ten.

[MattHiggins]

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/mehiggins101/DSC_0557.jpg
Ryan Dawson

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/mehiggins101/DSC_0525.jpg
Jared Tebo

[MattHiggins]

2WD Buggy
1. Ryan Cavalieri
2. Jesse Robbers
3. Dave Montgomery
4. Ryan Maifield
5. Chad Due
6. Brent Thielke
7. Mike Truhe
8. Adam Drake
9. Jared Tebo
10. Ronnie Gardner

Drivers all the way down to 17th have put down times (18 laps) worthy of the A-main.

4WD Buggy
1. Jared Tebo
2. Billy Easton
3. Ryan Cavalieri
4. Mike Truhe
5. Ryan Maifield
6. Adam Drake
7. Dave Montgomery
8. Steve Hartson
9. Ronnie Gardner
10. Rob Schaffer

20 laps is the fastest anyone has gone in 4WD and thus far only Tebo, Cavalieri and Maifield have pulled it off.

Stadium Truck
1. Ryan Cavalieri
2. Jesse Robbers
3. Mike Truhe
4. Ryan Maifield
5. Steve Hartson
6. Brent Thielke
7. Dave Montgomery
8. Jared Tebo
9. Adam Drake
10. Billy Fischer

[MattHiggins]

> We're now into the start of the third round of qualifying, and the track is starting to break up.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/mehiggins101/DSC_0651.jpg

> Brent Thielke and Dave Montgomery are both running brushless with LRP controllers and Reedy motors.

[MrSHEP]

great stuff

thanks Matt

[MattHiggins]

2WD Buggy
1. Ryan Cavalieri
2. Dave Montgomery
3. Jesse Robbers
4. Ryan Maifield
5. Mike Truhe
6. Chad Due
7. Jared Tebo
8. Ronnie Gardner
9. Adam Drake
10. Steve Hartson

Cavalieri has TQ'ed all three rounds.

4WD Buggy
1. Jared Tebo
2. Ryan Cavalieri
3. Billy Easton
4. Ryan Maifield
5. Adam Drake
6. Dave Montgomery
7. Mike Truhe
8. Ronnie Gardner
9. Jesse Robbers
10. Steve Hartson

Tebo has Tq'ed all three rounds.

Stadium Truck
1. Ryan Cavalieri
2. Ryan Maifield
3. Jared Tebo
4. Steve Hartson
5. Jesse Robbers
6. Adam Drake
7. Brent Thielke
8. Dave Montgomery
9. Mike Truhe
10. Billy Fischer

Cavalieri TQ'ed round 2 and 3 while Jesse Robbers took round 1.

[associatedude92]

Sure would love to go to that.

[MattHiggins]

> The track closed shortly after 8 PM on Saturday when race 23 (the last round of 4WD Buggy) concluded. The ROAR official, David Lee, stated some track work will be done to get the track back in shape.
> There will not be an additional resort for round 4 of qualifying.
> Tomorrow (Sunday) racing will start at 8 AM sharp with a single round of qualifying.

[Holeshot101]

Looks like Tebo turned his game around in 2WD and ST, and still holding strong in 4WD

The Drake is doing alright, and same thing with Truhe.

"Cavs" is just pwning, and looks who's back, Easton.

[losifreak2004]

Good luck to all of Team Losi's drivers tomorrow, keep it up!

[dallasv8]

has pavidis and the kyosho boys got the 2wd buggys there?

any ttech x10?

[MattHiggins]

has pavidis and the kyosho boys got the 2wd buggys there?

any ttech x10?
No on Pavidis and the Kyosho 2WD buggy. Pavidis is not at this race, and I haven't anything but Losi, Associated and X-Factory* 2WD buggies.

Yes on the X-10.

*The X-Factory is a conversion kit that blends Losi XXX and AE B4 parts and features a--by modern standards--atypical mid-motor layout.

[MattHiggins]

It's official; here's your 2006 Electric Off-road Mod Nats TQ's:
2WD - Ryan Cavalieri
4WD - Jared Tebo
Stadium Truck - Ryan Cavalieri

2WD and 4WD were actually official after three round, but stadium truck was still undecided until the 4th round. Ryan Cavalieri won the 4th round in imporessive fashion and should be very hard to beat in the mains.

[MattHiggins]

In each A1, all of the TQ holders took advantage of their top starting spots and took home wins relatively unchallenged. One thing I realized that I hadn't noticed in practice and qualifying is that this track, while fast and somewhat easy, has very little places to pass. In the 2WD buggy A1, Maifield got behind early, but it was extremely hard for him to make up ground; he eventually broke. The same proved to be true for Cavalieri in the 4WD buggy A1.

Round One (A1)
2WD Buggy - Ryan Cavalieri (TQ)
4WD Buggy - Jared Tebo (TQ)
Stadium Truck - Ryan Cavalieri (TQ)

[MattHiggins]

... it's done. All three classes, all three 2006 Electric Off-road Modified National championship titles have been decided. In each class, only two of the three A-mains were needed.

The champs:
2WD Buggy - Ryan Cavalieri (TQ)
4WD Buggy - Jared Tebo (TQ)
Stadium Truck - Ryan Cavalieri (TQ)

4WD A2 proved to be the race of the weekend as there were three different leaders--eventual winner Tebo, Cavalieri and Maifield all led laps. There was a close race in the Stadium Truck class as Maifield challenged Cavalieri, but didn't get close enough or enough of a run to pull off a pass.

Also, of note these two wins are actually Cavalieri's first ROAR national championships!

[losifreak2004]

Those are Cavalieri's first two ELECTRIC ROAR National Championships. He won 1/8th scale Nitro Buggy last year in Texas.

Congratulations to Ryan and Jared.

[ARNO]

Thanks for the Live Matt.
Could you post some pics of the local boyz who made the A-main?

[MattHiggins]

Those are Cavalieri's first two ELECTRIC ROAR National Championships. He won 1/8th scale Nitro Buggy last year in Texas.

Congratulations to Ryan and Jared.You are correct. I should have been more specific. The point is that it's hard to imagine that multi-world champ Cavalieri is just now getting some ROAR national titles.

[MattHiggins]

On Sunday, the track got super slick--and, worse with each round! These guys put on a heck of a show, and the driving was beyond impressive. The guys who won really earned it.

[jlog]

has pavidis and the kyosho boys got the 2wd buggys there?

any ttech x10?

This was my son's first MOD NATS, he qualified the TTech X-10 10th in the B-main and finished 5th. Not too bad I think.. :rolleyes:

[Buff]

Great coverage guys....nice pics too.

Sad thought for me to think that I live only 40 mins away and couldn't make this race due to money and back problems, but looks like all had a great time.....track looks like it held up really well considering it's probably hadn't had that many racers on it in that amount of time.

Congrats to Scott Burns (the owner of the track and former teammate of mine Team AE/Reedy/LRP) as he's had a successful week/weekend. Job well done.

Congrats to the "A" Team too, as well as J Concepts with yet another huge title under their belt as well! That BJ4 W.E. is simply amazing. Just goes to show how versatile this car is.....we know it'll handle well on slick bumpy tracks, and now we know it can also handle well on the other end of the spektrum (no pun intended) by dominating on indoor clay. I'm not surprised though......afterall, it is the best 4 wheeler out on the market. ;)

[Slammed94]

How come there wasnt a Kinwald or Francis therE?

[Buff]

Kinwald, not sure.....maybe he's just not ready yet to come back....

As for Francis, he's retired from offroad racing.

[Slammed94]

Ih he did? Why? Where had Kinwald been? Can you tell its been awhile? lol

[MattHiggins]

Kinwald is taking a break from racing for health reasons, and Francis has retired from all RC racing. Francis will not be attending any big events--on- or off-road.

[chase]

man i want to go just to get in the pits or race my t4 its got an lrp sphere and a 3 star motor or id run my soon to be 9 turn checkpoint