Maifield’s 2022 Nats report
Report from
2022 1:8 Off-road Fuel ROAR Nationals
After cleaning up, storing, and packing away the RV, the ROAR Nationals week is complete. Thanks to the entire Adobe Mountain club and especially Tim Lime who pulled off a successful event. Without a lot of experience with this surface, there were a lot of unknowns how it would race out and it took some time in the pits to figure out how we could be the most competitive. I’m happy to have placed 2nd in both 1/8th Nitro buggy and Truggy classes. It was Dakotah’s weekend, and he earned it, congratulations.
________
The first day of qualifying didn’t go all that well. I was able to get a 3rd in round 2 of truggy and I didn’t have much at all in buggy after a bad run during Q1 and then in Q2, had a rock get stuck in the flywheel for a DNF. Thanks to Mike Truhe and with some help of the Mugen team, we made some progress and tried to eliminate some future rock problems, we focused on the second day of qualifying.
________
Performance started to improve on the Mugen MBX8-T and MBX8-R during Q3 and Q4 and overall would start 3rd for the 45-minute truck main and 2nd in the even Semi Final for buggy. We had our official A-main practice for truck and semi practice for buggy to sort out a few changes and tire checks. Was able to try some different JConcepts tire combinations, check the tune and mileage for the finals. The Protek Samurai RM edition with VP Racing Fuel was making some serious power. We decided we could run 9 minutes on stops in truggy and decided to play it safe with 7:30 stops with buggy.
________
I got a good start in the 1/8th truck main and was in a freight train with Dakotah, Jared Tebo, and Mason Fuller. I held my position and relied on some smooth pit stops and the advantage of 1 less stop than my competition. At one point I could see the leader and felt there was one final push before the finish. However, a crash at the end of the straight cost too much time and it was time to hold on for 2nd. The Recon tire was a good choice for me and had tons of tread left over and just got better.
________
The 30-minute buggy semi-final was a good race and a great opportunity for some track time. Ty and I drove around and exchanged the lead a few times. It’s just a relief to get the race over and have a place in the A-Main. It was good to start 2nd overall behind Dakotah but the work only gets harder from there. The Protek servos still felt good after all this year’s racing and the punishment from Nitro Challenge. No changes but some fresh tires, a clutch rebuild and some cleaning to the body and suspension.
________
The sun went down, and we mounted a few extra JConcepts tire compounds in case the temperatures got too cool. We had a 4-minute warmup, and the track was still abrasive, a little water stuck to the surface but mostly in the same shape. The biggest decision was between my used Recon from all qualifying and 30 min semi or to go with a new set. The used set tested out a little more comfortable in the warmup so that is what we went with.
________
The 60-minute main started, and everyone was pushing very hard. I stepped up my pace to move with Dakotah and everyone behind followed. A few drivers had unfortunate breakage early on and that opened the field. The game plan was to stay close and see if there would be an opportunity at the end. The track started to cool more and more as the sun went down and the dust came into the driving line in areas where there was nowhere smooth to drive.
________
The race went to the very end, I had the lead and made a mistake in the left front jump and got my tire stuck under the pipe. A got a great final pit stop from Truhe and we were right where we wanted to be. There was just not a lot of room for error, and overall, too many small or medium mistakes. It’s been quite a while since I’ve had a 60-minute race go down to the last lap, a rush I’ll carry into the next event. Finished 2nd overall and 4 seconds behind. Congrats to Dakotah and TLR on a great weekend.
________
Thanks to Adobe Mountain Raceway, Tim Lime, ROAR, and Kenny Brosh on a good Championship event. Shout out as always to the JConcepts team for trackside support from Jason Ruona, Paul Wynn, and Hannah on the media coverage all weekend.
_________
Thanks to family, friends, and supporters who came out and checked in over the weekend and Team Mugen in the pits with Adam Drake and Mike Truhe.
_________
Look for a complete race report on the JConcepts social pages covering the event and YouTube uploads featuring full length main event videos.
_________
Next event, PNB in White Pine, Tennessee
________
Mugen Seiki
JConcepts
Yokomo
Hobbywing
ProTek RC
VP Fuel
Flash Point
RM2
Hobby Action
A-Main Hobbies
Drakein
Stick-It 1
________
The first day of qualifying didn’t go all that well. I was able to get a 3rd in round 2 of truggy and I didn’t have much at all in buggy after a bad run during Q1 and then in Q2, had a rock get stuck in the flywheel for a DNF. Thanks to Mike Truhe and with some help of the Mugen team, we made some progress and tried to eliminate some future rock problems, we focused on the second day of qualifying.
________
Performance started to improve on the Mugen MBX8-T and MBX8-R during Q3 and Q4 and overall would start 3rd for the 45-minute truck main and 2nd in the even Semi Final for buggy. We had our official A-main practice for truck and semi practice for buggy to sort out a few changes and tire checks. Was able to try some different JConcepts tire combinations, check the tune and mileage for the finals. The Protek Samurai RM edition with VP Racing Fuel was making some serious power. We decided we could run 9 minutes on stops in truggy and decided to play it safe with 7:30 stops with buggy.
________
I got a good start in the 1/8th truck main and was in a freight train with Dakotah, Jared Tebo, and Mason Fuller. I held my position and relied on some smooth pit stops and the advantage of 1 less stop than my competition. At one point I could see the leader and felt there was one final push before the finish. However, a crash at the end of the straight cost too much time and it was time to hold on for 2nd. The Recon tire was a good choice for me and had tons of tread left over and just got better.
________
The 30-minute buggy semi-final was a good race and a great opportunity for some track time. Ty and I drove around and exchanged the lead a few times. It’s just a relief to get the race over and have a place in the A-Main. It was good to start 2nd overall behind Dakotah but the work only gets harder from there. The Protek servos still felt good after all this year’s racing and the punishment from Nitro Challenge. No changes but some fresh tires, a clutch rebuild and some cleaning to the body and suspension.
________
The sun went down, and we mounted a few extra JConcepts tire compounds in case the temperatures got too cool. We had a 4-minute warmup, and the track was still abrasive, a little water stuck to the surface but mostly in the same shape. The biggest decision was between my used Recon from all qualifying and 30 min semi or to go with a new set. The used set tested out a little more comfortable in the warmup so that is what we went with.
________
The 60-minute main started, and everyone was pushing very hard. I stepped up my pace to move with Dakotah and everyone behind followed. A few drivers had unfortunate breakage early on and that opened the field. The game plan was to stay close and see if there would be an opportunity at the end. The track started to cool more and more as the sun went down and the dust came into the driving line in areas where there was nowhere smooth to drive.
________
The race went to the very end, I had the lead and made a mistake in the left front jump and got my tire stuck under the pipe. A got a great final pit stop from Truhe and we were right where we wanted to be. There was just not a lot of room for error, and overall, too many small or medium mistakes. It’s been quite a while since I’ve had a 60-minute race go down to the last lap, a rush I’ll carry into the next event. Finished 2nd overall and 4 seconds behind. Congrats to Dakotah and TLR on a great weekend.
________
Thanks to Adobe Mountain Raceway, Tim Lime, ROAR, and Kenny Brosh on a good Championship event. Shout out as always to the JConcepts team for trackside support from Jason Ruona, Paul Wynn, and Hannah on the media coverage all weekend.
_________
Thanks to family, friends, and supporters who came out and checked in over the weekend and Team Mugen in the pits with Adam Drake and Mike Truhe.
_________
Look for a complete race report on the JConcepts social pages covering the event and YouTube uploads featuring full length main event videos.
_________
Next event, PNB in White Pine, Tennessee
________
Mugen Seiki
JConcepts
Yokomo
Hobbywing
ProTek RC
VP Fuel
Flash Point
RM2
Hobby Action
A-Main Hobbies
Drakein
Stick-It 1
Class Offroad
Scale/Size 1/8
Power Nitro