Maifield sets Q1 pace in 2WD Buggy
The opening round of 2WD buggy qualifying at the JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals in Dallas, Texas, saw Ryan Maifield set the early pace around the Mike’s Hobby Shop track with the Associated driver taking Q1 by 1.578 from the TLR of Cody Hollis with Dustin Evans completing the Top 3 as the only other driver to manage 16-laps. It was good opening round of qualifying for Hollis as he took his TLR22-T to the fastest time in the other big class this weekend Mod Truck ahead of his young team-mate Taylor Larsen with Maifield taking his T4.2 to the 3rd fastest time.
Maifield described his opening 2WD Buggy run as a ‘rough heat’ after he had to contend with lapped traffic in the unseeded heat. Having to be ‘patient’ while he had a few incidents none of them where anything major and all should be better for the second of the scheduled three qualifiers as the heats will be reseeded at the end of each round. Winner of the Winter Indoor Nationals, the opening round of the JConcepts sponsored Indoor National Series, Maifield said his B4.2 was safe to drive but could do with a ‘little more steering’ and he will make some adjustments to sort that for his second run. In Mod Truck, the Arizona driver described it as ‘work in progress’ but added the biggest issue in Q1 was ‘too many mistakes’.
Hollis was pleased with his opening runs saying he had ‘no wrecks’ and now just needed to repeat that a ‘couple more times’. Running JConcepts green compound Pressure Point tyres on both his Orion powered TLR22 and 22T, the 20-year-old said track conditions for Q1 were very consistent and he was enjoying driving the track which ‘has a really good flow to it’. Planning to leave his truck the same for Q2 and just break in a new set of tyres, on his buggy he will made a front camber link change to try calm down the front end a little.
Team-mate Evans said his 22 was ‘awesome’ but the run had ‘5-seconds in crashes’ after a couple of ‘dumb mistakes’. With rocket round qualifying being used this weekend, the winner of last year’s Fall Indoor Nationals said with the track going to get faster and faster he said the important thing was going to be on form for Q3 when the track should be at its fastest. Fourth fastest in Mod Truck, Evans said his tyres where a little too new leading to a couple of mistakes but with a couple of small set-up changes planned for his next run he is confident he can easily improve on his time.
Fourth fastest in 2WD Buggy, 14-year-old Larsen felt he could have driven a lot better. Happy with how his cars are working, the TLR driver said he needed to drive with more patience and stay in the groove. Winner of Mod Truck at this event 12 months ago he would end the opening qualifier 2.668 down on Hollis but is confident he can improve a lot on that pace with tidier driving.
The defending series champion and dominator of this race last year, Steven Hartson could only managed 5th in Q1. Describing it as a ‘bad run’, the factory Associated driver said he never does well in his first run. Making a number of ‘stupid mistakes’ he said his buggy has the pace, highlighted by his blistering fastest lap of the round which was a 19.069, he said the driver just needs to ‘slow down a little’ which should help eliminate most of the mistakes. The Top 6 in 2WD Buggy was completed by fellow Associated driver Allen Horne while in Mod Truck AE team-manager Brent Thielke set the 5th fastest time ahead of his young team driver Spencer Rivkin.
2WD Buggy Qualifying – Round 1
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 16/5:17.025
2. Cody Hollis – TLR – 16/5:18.603
3. Dustin Evans – TLR – 16/5:19.323
4. Taylor Larsen – TLR – 15/5:07.196
5. Steven Hartson – Associated – 15/5:07.482
6. Allen Horne – Associated – 15/5:09.756
Mod Truck Qualifying – Round 1
1. Cody Hollis – TLR – 15/5:04.832
2. Taylor Larsen – TLR – 15/5:07.500
3. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 15/5:08.007
4. Dustin Evans – TLR – 15/5:09.300
5. Brent Thielke – Associated – 15/513.499
6. Spencer Rivkin – Associated – 15/5:15.197
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