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| Race report by Paul Lemieux, photos by David Larry. |
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| The 2012 ROAR On Road Fuel Nationals were held last weekend at the Nugget Ranch Raceway in Arcadia, FL. This yearâ™s event included three classes: 10th Sedan, 8th Masters, and 8th Open. The race format was like an IFMAR Worldâ™s event in the sense that the top 4 would qualify directly to the 1 hour final, with the rest of the field having to qualify through one of two 30 minute semi finals. |
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| RC Americaâ™s team was in attendance with many drivers from around the country. Our local Florida racers came out to compete and support the event, as well as several racers from all over the country. XRAY factory racers Mike Swauger and Paul Lemieux were competing in both 1/10 sedan and 1/8, with Drew Ellis also attending for added customer support. |
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| In practice and qualifying the team worked together to get on pace with the unique track conditions. In 8th open, Mike Swauger and his RX8 were turning strong lap times to lead several qualifiers, but run time was forcing fuels stops and dropping his times back in the pack compared to others stretching their mileage to make the full 5 minutes. Paul Lemieux was able to make 5min during a couple qualifiers, but was still adapting to his first race with the 2012 RX8. Not running as much nitro this year, Paul was figuring out the setup and track during the event. |
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| Worrying more about preparation for the longer mains than outright qualifying speed, XRAY did not have any direct entries to the final. In the end, Mike would end up as the top XRAY, qualifying in the front row of one of the semi finals. In addition to Mike, XRAY racers Jason Conley, Mike Pulfer, Roniel Regalado, Paul Lemieux and Tony Rice also placed in the semi finals. Swauger and Lemieux both took top spots in their respective semi finals, with Roniel Regalado also bumping into the final. |
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| In 1/10 Sedan, it was DJ Apolaro who set the TQ with Scotty Grey, Scott Kimbrow and Paolo Morgante filling out the top 4 spots. Early in qualifying, Swauger had some bad luck which in the end looked to cost him a top 4 spot with Lemieux getting faster through the rounds but also narrowly missing out on the top 4. Just as in the 1/8 mains, the semis would see many NT1 drivers looking to bump up to the final. In the end, it was Mike and Paul taking the win in their semis along with Billy Bowerman, Eric Jones and Anthony Schimizzi all running great semi finals to find their way in to the main event. |
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| In Masters, it was a good battle for TQ from the get go between Joaquin Desoto Sr., Chuck Moon and Maxy Velazco. It was Joaquin Desoto Sr. who nabbed the TQ in a tie breaker from RC America racer Chuck Moon who would start second. Dan Louis also secured a direct spot in the final with his RX8. From the semis, Jim Rice bump to the main to put three RX8s in the final race. |
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| Finals: |
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1/10 Sedan:
DJ Apolaro who took off at the start with an aggressive tire strategy, with Scotty Grey in 2nd, Morgante, Lemieux, Swauger and Kimbrow in pursuit. Engine tuning during his first pit stop prevented DJ from pulling away from Gray and Lemiuex. The soft tires required multiple tire changes for Apolaro, putting him back in the field. With great fuel stops by Drew Ellis saving time for Paul, he took the lead. After some early issues, Swauger was also running some great laps in 2nd, putting XRAY 1-2. A quick tire change by Drew and Roniel at the 30 minute mark kept Paul in the lead in front of Mike. These two would finish in the same positions, giving the NT1 1st and 2nd spot on the podium. |
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Masters:
At the start the race was on between the top two qualifiers. Moon and Desoto would battle early with an incident dropping them both back in the pack. Maxy Valezco would get in to the lead with Chuck Moon making his way quickly threw the field. Desoto would run in to more issues causing him to retire. Valezco and Moon would trade the lead during pit stops, with Moon eventually taking the lead for good and driving a consistent race to the finish. Valezco would also retire from the race with issues. In the end it was Chuck Moon with smooth pit work from Vince Tate who would finish with a comfortable win. Dan Louis would also have a great race to claim the second spot on the podium with none other than âśRed Cupâť himself, Jim Rice rounding out the podium for a 1&2&3 XRAY finish of the Masters class. |
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8th open:
TQ Paolo Morgante would get out front with DJ Apolaro, Joaquin Desoto Jr., Swauger and Lemieux in tow. The top two had good pace early, with the field battling for third. Early problems dropped Swauger down in the ranks and cost him a chance for a good finish. Reminiscent of the sedan final, Lemieux worked his way by Desoto with good pit work and tire conservation, and assumed the lead during Morgante first tire stop. From there, Lemieux had a great tire stop at the 30min mark from Drew Ellis and Michael Palazzola and never looked back. Lemieux took another comfortable win in the 8th scale division with his RX8, Joaquin Desoto Jr would finish second and a charge back through the pack from DJ Apolaro would earn him a podium spot. |
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All in all the race was run very smooth, we would like to thank the whole Nuggets Ranch crew for the very well maintained facility, Jim Rice for taking care of the whole RC America team, and ROAR for running a great and fair program.
We would also like to thank the whole XRAY team, customers and others for their efforts all week. |
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| 10th scale TC: |
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1. Paul Lemieux - XRAY NT1
2. Mike Swauger - XRAY NT1
3. Paolo Morganti
4. DJ Apolaro
5. Scotty Gray
6. Eduardo Cabal
7. Scott Kimbrow
8. Billy Bowerman - XRAY NT1
9. Eric Jones - XRAY NT1
10. Anthony Schimizzi - XRAY NT1 |
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| 8th scale Masters |
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1. Chuck Moon - XRAY RX8 2012
2. Dan Louis - XRAY RX8 2012
3. Jim Rice - XRAY RX8 2012
4. Randy Colvin
5. Peter Breton
6. Douglas Day
7. Tod Roman
8. Maxy Velazco
9. Joaquin Desoto Sr.
10. Greg Esser |
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| 8th Scale Open |
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1. Paul Lemieux - XRAY RX8 2012
2. Joaquin Desoto Jr.
3. DJ Apolaro
4. Paolo Morganti
5. Brian Thomas
6. Scott Kimbrow
7. Roniel Regalado - XRAY RX8 2012
8. Â Kenny Ives Jr.
9. Ted Hammer
10. Mike Swauger - XRAY RX8 2012
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