To simply put it, we are beyond excited about the team’s results this past weekend at the ROAR 1:8 Off-Road Fuel Nationals. It’s no secret, Dakotah Phend was on fire this weekend at Adobe Mountain RC Speedway. For this first time, he was able to TQ and win both Nitro Buggy and Nitro Truggy at the Nationals! To top it off, he was able to achieve this on the brand new Recon Tire that is still in the testing and development phase. Additionally, JConcepts was able to take the top 5 spots in Nitro Buggy with great performances from Ryan Maifield, Mason Fuller, Spencer Rivkin, and Seth VanDalen.
The schedule was the normal ROAR national format:
Wednesday: Host Track Practice
Thursday: ROAR Practice & Seeding
Friday: 2 Rounds of Qualifying
Saturday: 2 Rounds of Qualifying
Sunday: Mains
Adobe RC Speedway is located right outside of Phoenix Arizona. It shares a park with a full-size dirt oval track, a go-kart racing track, trains, and more! We’ve never been to this facility and with that, there were some unknowns about the surface. We found the surface to be dusty and rough as the weekend went on. Throughout the race, drivers utilized the reliable Reflex tire and experimented with Kosmos. For compounds, blue and green were the go-to options all weekend long. The track layout was enjoyed by the drivers and built by Anthony Westergaurd at Factory Tracks. One standout feature, was the split option lane as pictured below. Drivers could choose which lane they wanted to take each lap.
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Seeding:
Nitro Truggy: Ryan Maifield (2), Dakotah Phend (3)
Nitro Buggy: Ryan Maifield (2), Dakotah Phend (4), Joe Bornhorst (5)
Qualifying:
Nitro Buggy: Dakotah Phend (1), Joe Bornhorst (4), Ryan Maifield (5)
Nitro Truggy: Dakotah Phend (1), Ryan Maifield (3), Mason Fuller (4)
Final Results:
Nitro Buggy: Dakotah Phend (1), Ryan Maifield (2), Mason Fuller (3), Spencer Rivkin (4), Seth VanDalen (5)
Dakotah Phend would lead the way in this 60 minute main after securing the overall TQ. It wouldn’t be an easy race with Maifield sitting 2nd, ready to battle it out. 3 laps in, Phend lengthened his lead. Behind him, Maifield, Tebo, and Fuller were battling for 2nd. Tebo was able to squeeze by Maifield into 2nd. Maifield wouldn’t have it that way for long, by lap 5 he took 2nd place back and started to chase down Phend. From there, those top two cruised around the track trying to hold strong to their positions. In the meantime, the battle for 3rd was escalating. Mason Fuller, Jared Tebo, Seth VanDalen, and Spencer Rivkin were all aiming for that final podium spot. Tebo fell back, and Fuller moved into 3rd. There were still 56 minutes left in the race and Fuller was on Maifield’s wing. Behind Fuller, Seth VanDalen was waiting for an opportunity to take over 3rd. Fuller got it wrong on that dreaded back section before the straightaway, and VanDalen capitalized. Fuller fell back into 5th and Joe Bornhorst found himself in 4th. At this point, Maifield was 6 seconds back from Phend and VanDalen was 1.5 seconds behind him. On lap 15, VanDalen rolled it over before the center triple and Tebo slid back into 3rd.
From there it changed quickly once again. Tebo fell back, Bornhorst took over third by lap 17, and VanDalen was still on the hunt in 4th. Within the next lap, VanDalen took back 3rd but was basically side by side with Bornhorst. Rivkin made his way up the pack and found himself on Bornhorst’s wing for a 3-way battle. Rivkin was 0.3 seconds behind Bornhorst and trying to make a pass. Bornhorst was playing hard defense, blocking every turn so Rivkin couldn’t squeeze through. Meanwhile, Maifield made up some distance and was only 0.6 seconds behind Phend. Rivkin got by Bornhorst, moved into 4th, and was chasing down VanDalen. 38 minutes to go and VanDalen made a mistake coming off the back straightaway, which allowed Rivkin to move into 3rd. Meanwhile, Fuller had been working his way back up after falling back into 9th. He was back in the thick of things. The primary battle for the next several laps was between VanDalen and Fuller for 4th place. Fuller held onto it for 4 laps, VanDalen took it back, Jared Tebo was up in the mix and Fuller fell back to 6th. It wasn’t long before Fuller surged back into 4th and was in the final battle with Spencer Rivkin.
23 minutes to go, we were on the final descent. Phend got upside down after that far left side turn, and Maifield took over the lead. Who would win this race? The former National Champion or would Phend be able to take his first national buggy title? Dakotah quickly got back to work, Maifield led for 4 laps, Phend was now only one second behind. That ruthless left-side back turn got Maifield too, and Phend took back the lead. The two would go on to battle it out for the remaining 20 minutes swapping the lead 2 more times. Meanwhile, looking back to 3rd and 4th place, Rivkin and Fuller were nose to wing. It was lap 93, Fuller drifts his HB racing buggy around the front 180, goes nearly side by side with Rivkin over the double, and into the turn, Fuller punches his car across and cleanly in front of Rivkin. They were on the front stretch and Mason hung on to 3rd after that incredible pass! However, the battle was far from over. Rivkin would get by Fuller on that dreaded left-hand turn, but Fuller would take it back one final time locking in 3rd on the podium! When the final tone went off it was Phend, Maifield, and Fuller as your top 3!
Nitro Truggy: Dakotah Phend (1), Ryan Maifield (2),
The Nitro Truggy main was 45 minutes and took place before the buggy main. Once again, Dakotah Phend would lead the way and ultimately he hung onto first place the entire grueling 45 minutes. Truly impressive! All of the drama and action would occur for the final two coveted podium positions. Jared Tebo qualified second and hung on to that for the first 13 laps, making nearly the first quarter of the race uneventful. By lap 13, Ryan Maifield was tired of sitting 3rd and he was ready to make his move. He was 1.5 seconds behind Tebo. As they navigated that center section Maifield made his move and locked into 2nd place. The top 3 cruised along until lap 26. Mason Fuller was sitting 4th, hunting down that 3rd place spot. Tebo was on Maifield’s wing, and Fuller was on Tebo’s. Tebo got it wrong on the right side of the track, Fuller took over 3rd and was now on the prowl for Maifield in 2nd. Tebo wasn’t willing to give it up that easily. 4 laps later he took 3rd place back from Fuller. However, it wouldn’t last long before Fuller got by back into 3rd. Tebo went in to pit when he made the pass. Fuller was close enough to Maifield, that when Maifield went into the pit, Fuller took over 2nd place. He held onto that 2nd place position until lap 47 when Fuller had an unfortunate break.
From there, it was Phend in first, Maifield in 2nd, and Tebo in 3rd. The race would continue relatively uneventful for those top 3 spots. As they approached the final 17 minutes, Tebo was less than a second behind Maifield. Maifield tagged the pipe in the dragon’s back and Tebo surged by him before the straightaway. Maifield stayed close, waiting for an opportunity to take it back. Tebo made a mistake on that dreaded back left-hand turn, Maifield took the option lane hoping to make the pass, but it wasn’t quite enough…. yet. A few more laps went by, Tebo went into the pit and Maifield took 2nd place back for the final time. Tebo and Tessmann would battle it out in the final handful of laps, but ultimately Tebo would finish 3rd. Phend locked in another Fuel National Title, taking the win!
15U Junior Buggy: Cole Chura (3)
Overall, we couldn’t be more proud of the team’s efforts this weekend. They took a challenging track, adapted, and the efforts showed in the final results! Congratulations, once again to Dakotah on his double wins along with Ryan Maifield and Mason Fuller! Thank you to Tim Lime and his crew for hosting us at Adobe Mountain RC Speedway and we look forward to seeing everyone trackside soon! Up next, is the NCTS3 Western Carpet Nationals at 702 Raceway in Las Vegas, NV!
Winning Products:
Reflex Tires
Dirt Tech Inserts
Bullet Wheels
S15 Body
F2 Truck Body
F2I Wing
RM2 Clover Wing Buttons
JConcepts Finish Line Nitro Pit Bag
Rm2 Engine Tuning Screwdriver