Phend officially announces the end of an era with TLR

After months of speculation and being the centre of endless social media posts on the subject, Dakotah Phend has just officially announced that his time with TLR has come to an end.  With TLR making the decision to discontinue their ‘Factory Team’, the official news from Phend sees the end of an era that lasted 19-years, the American having represented the brand his entire professional career.  Having first hinted at the widely expected news just before the Nitro Buggy Main at the recent U.S. Open Fuel Championships, Phend went into more detail in his latest post which was accompanied by the video that ends with the statement, ‘After 19-years of dedication to the brand my time with TLR has come to an end. My new journey of dedication and commitment will be announced soon’.

I never knew if I was going to end up making this post or not during my career but after 19 years my time with TLR/Trinity/Horizon Hobby is officially over. I actually started with Teamlosi in 2006 after my first Nationals at SRS Raceway back in 2005. Man how my life and the industry has changed since then. From graduating school, to RC becoming my full time job, getting married, buying our first house, moving to Indiana, to now expecting our first child TLR has always been a constant in my life. We have been through a lot of ups and downs together within and outside of the industry and I will forever be grateful for all of the good memories that I do have.

Unfortunately the last couple of years I have felt like our connection has slowly been dwindling and with their decision to pull support from the professional racing scene it is time for me to start fresh and head in a new direction. I’ve lost a lot of sleep and had way too much stress these last couple of months knowing how much my life is about to change in 2025 and knowing I would also be leaving the company that has supported me from the beginning.

I’ve looked at this scenario from every possible way and I’m so thankful for the blessings that have come from this tough spot in life. To the people that have reached out to Chloe and I to offer us comfort and strength you will never know how much that has meant to us. There are so many amazing people that I have had the pleasure of getting to know because of RC and it truly means the world to me to feel all of the love and support that I have. To the companies and opportunities that fell into place, man I’m so excited for the future! I have a lot left in the tank and this is the reset I need to continue to grow on and off the track.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a Happy New Year! I’ll be starting the year off with a bang January 1st at Hoosier RC for the Clash of Champions, followed by SIC, and Factory NSX! See everyone there. News to come soon!

Source: Dakotah Phend [Facebook]