Just three weeks after they outdistanced the USAC/CRA 410 sprint car field in the main event at Santa Maria, Brody Roa will be teaming with car owner Jayson May for Saturday’s USAC West Coast Sprint Car race at the Ventura Raceway. It will be the first appearance of the year for Roa in the series that he was champion of in 2016.
Roa, who lives in Garden Grove, California, will be making his second appearance of the year at Ventura on Saturday. On June 11th, he drove his own #91R to the second-place finish in the USAC/CRA main event there. On that night, he dogged the winner the entire race and was glued to his tail at the end. Roa was clearly the faster driver, but the track was one groove on the bottom. The 31-year-old’s only option to win the race would have been to knock the leader out of the way. Unlike many drivers, Roa raced the leader clean and ended up second.
Saturday’s appearance at Ventura will be Roa’s third time in May’s car in 2022. In addition to the win at Santa Maria, he drove in two races at the Central Arizona Speedway in February. The first night, he had a big lead in the yellow flag-plagued main event when he ran out of fuel late in the race and dropped to fifth. Twenty-four hours later on the same track, he placed second in the feature.
“That thing rips,” Roa told the crew of the Dirt Tracks and Rib Racks podcast last Sunday when referring to May’s car. “Obviously, it beat the 410s at Santa Maria. That place was rough on both ends. Sticky as can be in three and four and slick and dusty in one and two. Kind of tricky. Kind of proved how good that 360 runs.”
Roa comes into this week’s action following what can best be described as a rough Saturday in last week’s USAC/CRA Series race at Perris Auto Speedway. As he put it to the cast on the podcast, “I would like to pretend last night did not happen.”
Coming into the night off two straight series wins, Roa was the defending champion of the California Racer’s Hall of Fame Night. In qualifying, he turned in a time of 16.903. That was six fastest of the 21 cars on hand. It also gave him a good shot at starting on the front row of the main event. However, it ended up being the only bright spot on the night.
Being the second fastest car in his 10-lap heat race, Roa was starting fifth. All he had to do was finish one spot ahead of where he started to assure himself a spot on the front row of the main event. He took the coveted fourth position going into turn three on the first circuit. However, it all started to unravel from that point!
Going into turn three on the third lap, Roa was going by the third-place car. Suddenly that car slid up the track and pushed Roa into the wall. Both of Roa’s right side wheels were on the top of the crashwall. Somehow, he managed to steer the car off the wall, and while he lost territory to the third-place car, he did not lose a position.
After gathering it back in, Roa had reeled in the top three by lap five and was racing on the wide line. Suddenly, the leader came to a near stop in Roa’s line. With nowhere to go, Roa got his car wooed down just as the other car took off. Simultaneously, the yellow came out. One lap into the restart the same car that slowed in the cushion slowed again directly in front of Roa leaving him nowhere to go. Roa got into the back of the slowing car and ended with a flat right front tire. Mercifully, his heat from heck ended before the crew could finish changing the tire.
Roa still had a good starting spot for the main in eighth. Sadly, it was just one of those nights. On lap two, a car slid across the track in turn four and knocked Roa into the fence. The clash damaged the front end of the #91R and knocked it out of the race. That ended the nightmare of a night and left Roa with a frustrating 19thplace finish.
If you wish to hear the aforementioned Dirt Tracks and Rib Racks podcast with Roa, you can do so at the following link https://spoti.fi/3cjQrLL.
Roa has a busy month of September on tap. He will be back in May’s car for two West Coast Series races. The first will be at Bakersfield on the 10th and two weeks later on the 24th at Ventura. Sandwiched in between, he will be back at Perris in the #91R for the USAC/CRA Glen Howard Memorial on the 17th.
In 2022, Roa is racing in the USAC/CRA, USAC National, and other select events, in his #91R BR Performance/HD Industries Eagle. He will also drive the #8M for May Motorsports in select USAC West Coast events. The 2019 USAC Southwest and 2017 USAC West Coast champion is always open to discussing other driving opportunities.
Roa and the team want to thank the following sponsors for making the 2022 season possible. HD Industries, Burris Racing, Sander Engineering, Inland Rigging, Caltrol, “Biker” Bruce Fischer, Competition Suspension, ALR Virtual Services, K-1 Race Gear, Molecule, Rod End Supply, Driven Racing Oil, Baldwin Filters, and NGK Spark Plugs. In addition, the veteran driver offers thanks to RDM Mechanics, Fastenal, Coopers Propane, Ten West Towing, Ten West Environmental, TJM Distribution, and Westco International for sponsoring the #8M he will pilot for Jayson May on 10 occasions in 2022.
If you or your company would like to jump on board and receive recognition as a team partner throughout the 2022 racing season, please give the two-time USAC champion racer a phone call or drop him a note at the contact information on the top of this release.
Fans can learn more about Roa and the team at https://www.brodyroa.com/. Fans can also check out the team news at Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/
To keep up with May Motorsports, please check out and “like” its Facebook page. https://www.facebook.
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