Days after turning 31 years old, sprint car driver Brody Roa picked up fourth, fifth and sixth-place finishes in the three-day “USAC Invasion” last week at the Cocopah Speedway. The top ten finishes saw the Southern California driver return home in third place in the series point standings.
The three days of racing were a trip down memory lane for the now veteran driver. Nearly ten years ago he won his first 410 sprint car main event on the same 3/8 of a mile clay oval. Last week’s races marked the first time the series and Roa competed on the track since 2013.
A strong 27-car field showed up for the series 18th season opener. Roa, who lives in Garden Grove, California, kicked off his sprint car season in qualifying on Thursday night with a lap of 16.589. That was the fourth quickest of the 27 cars on hand. Once the racing action got underway, he started and finished fifth in his first 10 lap heat race of 2022. That set the brilliant green and black #91R in the seventh starting spot for the 30-lap main event.
Roa advanced two spots forward on lap four. Eleven laps later the friendly driver was still in the same position, but lap 17 saw him advance up to fourth. Perhaps more importantly, he had managed to stay out of the wild crashes that stopped the race multiple times. While he flirted with third in the waning laps, he ended up fourth and was able to roll the #91R back into the trailer.
Night two did not start the way Roa wanted. He pulled the highest number pill for qualifying and was the last car to take laps. He ended up 10th quick with a time of 17.130. Things immediately turned around in his heat race. Starting third, he swept into the lead at the halfway point and proceeded to walk away from the competition for his first heat race win of 2022.
The Friday night main was the exact opposite of the previous evening’s “open-wheel demolition derby.” In fact, the race went green to checkered with no interruptions. “The Pride of Garden Grove” began the race on the outside of the fifth row in 10th. The first couple of circuits saw Roa take one step forward and two steps back. He moved up to ninth on the first go-around but slipped back to 11th by the end of lap two. However, within one lap he was back to ninth. From that point on it was nothing but forward movement all the way to a hard-earned sixth-place finish.
The final night saw Roa’s best qualifying effort of the three nights when he was third quickest at 16.394. That time made him the fastest qualifier in the third heat race and placed him outside row three for the start. When a couple of cars got together on lap one coming off turn four, Roa had nowhere to go, and got caught up in the mess. While his car did not suffer extensive damage, it was hurt bad enough to knock him out of the heat.
The heat race melee forced Roa to start the main on the inside of row four in his repaired race car. He initially slipped back to eighth before he methodically started picking off cars one at a time. Lap five found him back to seventh and he went one spot better on a lap six restart. A couple more times around saw Roa roar into fifth. That is where he stayed until picking up one more position on lap 14. The likable driver stayed in fourth place for the second half of the race, and thus recorded his best finish of the three-race week.
Brody Roa merchandise is available online. You can see it all in his store which is packed with great items including t-shirts, sweatshirts, caps, beanies, baby onesies, plush blankets, jigsaw puzzles, stickers, notebooks, tote bags, wine tumblers, mugs, bandana pet collars, and more. To check it out, please visit the following website https://www.brodyroa.
Roa and the team want to thank the following sponsors for making the 2022 season possible. HD Industries, Burris Racing, Sander Engineering, Inland Rigging, “Biker” Bruce Fischer, Competition Suspension, ALR Virtual Services, K-1 Race Gear, Molecule, Rod End Supply, and Baldwin Filters. 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 select 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. You can also contact him if you would like him to drive your sprint car or midget when his West Coast schedule permits.
To view Roa’s online portfolio and learn more about the team, please click on the following link https://www.
BRP PR
