“The Pride of Garden Grove,” Brody Roa, turned in a pair of strong performances when the USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series opened its 18th season last weekend on the Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield. When the checkered flag ended the final on Saturday, the veteran driver had recorded a second place and a seventh-place finish over the two nights of top-flight racing.
Driving a brand-new Eagle Chassis for the first time, the second and seventh place results do not accurately describe how well the weekend went for Roa. To sum it up, the 30-year-old led 45 of the 60 main event laps. Both nights he led the first 22 circuits. He had a commanding lead on Friday when the plethora of yellow flags in the race finally bit him when he ran out of fuel on lap 25. Having to restart at the back after pitting, he pushed the beautiful green and black #91R car all the way back to seventh in the final five laps. After leading the first 22 circuits on Saturday, he became entangled in heavy lapped traffic and eventually relinquished the lead in route to a second-place finish.
Brody Roa in his brand new Eagle Chassis on The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park. Charles Fawcett Photo.
“This is a brand-new car to us,” Roa told the crowd when interviewed after Saturday’s finale. “To lead and run like we did in a brand-new chassis is good. We switched to an Eagle Chassis this year. We are really happy with it and what we did this weekend.”
Before the main events, Roa also showed well in the preliminaries both nights. On Friday, he was third fast qualifier with a lap of 14.159 on the 1/3 of a mile clay oval. He then placed second in his heat and started fourth in the main event. Twenty-four hours later, he was fifth quick qualifier with a time of 14.948, and once again he placed second in his heat. He started third in Saturday’s main event. His performances resulted in him being second in series points, only six markers out of the top spot heading into the next race at the Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare on March 26th.
“This place is fun, and I hope we come back another 14, 15 or 50 times this year,” Roa said of the Jayson May promoted track. “It was two different racetracks from last night to tonight. Last Night it was a little rough around the bottom in three and four. Tonight, it was cowboy up around the top. One and two is really tricky. It takes some thinking to get around this place. It is a lot of fun.”
Brody Roa and his six month old daughter, Addison Leanne, inspecting the track at Kern County Raceway Park.
The busy year is underway for the BR Motorsports team in USAC/CRA competition. Roa will also contest some races for Jayson May in the USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series. He also plans on doffing a wing for the first time to race with the Northern California based King of the West Series. If that is not enough, he is open to making some appearances in the Midwest with the USAC National Sprint Cars if the opportunity for a ride materializes.
Roa and the team would like to thank the following for being part of the 2021 campaign. HD Industries, Burris Racing, Competition Suspension, Sander Engineering, Biker Bruce Fisher, Inland Rigging, The Golden Vibe Boutique, K-1 Race Gear, Molecule, Rod End Supply, Baldwin Filters and Jambo BBQ Pits. If you or your company would like to jump on board and receive recognition throughout the year, please give the two-time USAC champion racer a phone call or drop him a note at the contact information at the top of this release.
To view Roa’s online portfolio and learn more about the team, please click on the following link https://www.teamwithbrody.com/. Fans can also check out the team website at https://www.brodyroa.com/ and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/br91r/.
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