JConcepts HQ made the trip out to Chico, California, for the 2023 ROAR 1:8 Off-Road Fuel Nationals! It had been a few years since we’d been to AMain Hobbies’ Track, Silver Dollar Raceway. This track is a top-notch outdoor facility that has hosted several prestigious races including, the 2013 IFMAR 1:10 Off-Road Worlds! The facility has a large, off-road dirt track which made for the perfect 1:8 event! It also has several RV hookups, plenty of pit space, an area to clean your car, and a fantastic driver’s stand! If you ever have the opportunity to race at Silver Dollar, don’t think twice about it! In fact, this year’s Fuel Nationals was a sold-out event!
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We arrived Wednesday afternoon and set up for the first day of practice/seeding on Thursday. On Thursday, we did three rounds which all counted as seeding. The Truck heats were 5 minutes, and the Buggy heats were 10 minutes. Generally speaking, the track got faster, with each round as we raced into the evening hours under the lights. Friday came along, and we completed the first two rounds of qualifying keeping with the same 5/10 minute format. The ROAR officials decided to go ahead and complete round three of Nitro Truck as well to save time on Saturday so we could start lower mains. There were four total rounds of qualifying and your best 2 of 4 counted! Sunday, we had the upper mains, the semi-finals, and the highly anticipated final events. You can check out the track layout below. It was a highly grooved track, with dust outside the main line, and the weather was hot! Drivers experimented with a few different tire treads in either the A1 or A2 compound primarily. In the Nitro Buggy Final event, Phend and Maifield ran Aqua ReHabs. Spencer Rivkin ran Aqua Reflex!
Seeding:
Nitro Buggy: Spencer Rivkin (1), Dakotah Phend (2), Jared Wiggins (4)
Nitro Truck: Dakotah Phend (1), Ryan Maifield (2), Spencer Rivkin (4), Mason Fuller (5)
Qualifying (Best 2 of 4):
Nitro Buggy: Dakotah Phend (1), Spencer Rivkin (3), Ryan Maifield (4)
Nitro Truck: Dakotah Phend (1), Seth VanDalen (2), Spencer Rivkin (3), Ryan Maifield (5)
Semi-Final Results (Finals Starting Grid):
Final Results:
Nitro Buggy: Dakotah Phend (1), Ryan Maifield (2), Spencer Rivkin (3)
Dakotah Phend started first on the grid after taking the overall TQ. After a heartbreaking run in Nitro Truck, Phend was more determined than ever to hold on to his Nitro Buggy Title. The tone went off, Phend, Rivkin, and Maifield were your top three leading the pack around the track. On lap three, Rivkin made a small bobble, which allowed Maifield to take over 2nd. Tebo and Tessmann were battling in 3rd and 4th. Maifield was feeling the pressure, but he was hanging on to 2nd. Come lap 25, Tessmann and Maifield were going at it, and Tessmann got by into 2nd. Phend was still leading the way, gaining more and more time on the field with every lap. Things began to spread out slightly between Tessmann and Maifield. Maifield was consistently pushing to get closer to Tessmann again. Meanwhile, Tebo and Rivkin were battling for 4th. After falling back to 8th on the grid, Rivkin was surging his way to the front, and by lap 26th, he took 4th place from Tebo. The two went back and forth the entire 1-hour race. There was no time to rest or take it easy. Looking back toward that front pack, Tessmann was flying down that front straight area in front of the driver stand, and had a devastating break. This occurred on lap 87, and Maifield bumped up into the 2nd spot and Rivkin into the 3rd spot. Dakotah Phend led the race essentially tone to tone, and managed to lap the entire field. Insane!
Nitro Truck: Ryan Maifield (1), Dakotah Phend (3)
The Nitro Truck Final began with Dakotah Phend in the pole position! Seth VanDalen started 2nd and Spencer Rivkin started 3rd. The tone went off and Phend was on the move looking to create some immediate space. Rivkin was ready to go, and he made a pass on VanDalen into 2nd. By lap 5, Maifield made his way from 5th on the grid to 3rd. On lap 6 Spencer took over the lead and hung on to it for 6 laps, but Phend was on the hunt right behind him. By lap 13 Phend made the pass on Rivkin and took back his lead and started to check out. When Rivkin had a small mistake, Maifield made his way up to 2nd. Maifield and Rivkin cruised in those top two positions until lap 24 when Tebo was making a resurgence. Tebo took over 3rd and it now was a battle with Maifield for that 2nd position. Phend was still checked out in the lead. The gap started to close between Phend, Maifield, and Tebo. There were two laps remaining in the race when Phend’s truck started to have an issue. It wasn’t entirely clear what was happening but his truck was losing power quickly. Despite this challenge, Phend was holding on to his line not allowing anyone to get by. Phend knew if he could hang on he could still make the podium. Maifield and Tebo had to figure out how to cleanly pass Phend by going around him. Ultimately, Maifield managed to make a pass and take over the lead. Maifield crossed the line in first taking the 2023 ROAR 1:8 Off-Road Nitro Truck National Title! Tebo took 2nd, and despite the mechanical issue, Phend took 3rd!
Junior Nitro Buggy: Jonah Wilson (1), Andrew Beauchamp (2), Phi-Long Nguyen (3)
Overall we really want to congratulate our team on their wins and hard work! We are truly grateful for each and every one of our drivers! JConcepts qualified 23 drivers into the top 50 in the 1/8th buggy class using production Aqua compound tires. This does not include a few other drivers using JConcepts and purchasing them from A-Main Hobbies. Our drivers finished 1st and 2nd in the 1/4 final even, 1st through 4th in the 1/4 final odd, we took both Semi-Finals, overall TQ, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the A-Final. Dakotah Phend took his 2nd Nitro Buggy National Title and did it in back-to-back years! Ryan Maifield added a 7th Nitro Truck Title to his resume as well! We also want to shout out Jonah Wilson for winning his first Junior Nitro Buggy National Title and making it to the semi-final in his first ROAR Fuel Nationals! Truly impressive!
Winning Products:
- ReHabs
- Reflex
- Razor Wing
- S15 Body
- Fin Titanium Turnbuckles
- Dirt-Tech Inserts
- Mono Wheels
- JConcepts Medium Glue
- Radial Bearings
- RC8B4 | RC8B4e Front Wing
- RC8T4, RC8T4e, Tekno NT48 2.0, ET48 2.0 Front Scoop | Nose Cone
