To say Brody Roa feels comfortable in the May Motorsports #8M may be the understatement of the year. For the second time in three weeks, he wheeled the car to victory when he bested the field in the USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series race last Saturday night at the Ventura Raceway.
After attending crew chief Zac Bozanich’s wedding the night before, Roa journeyed to Ventura to hop into May’s pretty orange, blue, and white sprint car at the track located adjacent to the beach on the Ventura County Fairgrounds. When they last raced together on August 6th, the veteran driver scored an impressive win when he drove the 360 car to a win against the USAC/CRA 410 Sprint Cars at the Santa Maria Raceway.
The 2016 USAC West Coast Sprint Car champion, Roa was making his first 2022 appearance in the series. The Garden Grove, California racer started the night by qualifying fourth in the 22-car field with a time of 13.008.
Roa, 31, started inside the third row in his heat race. He quickly advanced to the third-place spot and began to challenge for second. While he was trying to get past the second-place car, the fourth-place car came calling on Roa. They became embroiled in a fierce, crowd-pleasing battle for the spot which eventually went to Roa.
The “Pride of Garden Grove” began the main on the inside of the front row and as soon as the Chris Kornder green flag told the drivers to get it on, Roa went on the attack. Even though he poked the nose of the 8M ahead a couple of times, he did not officially lead a lap until the seventh circuit. Going into turn one he dove to the bottom and slid up the track to take the lead.
A yellow on lap 9 bunched the field onto the back of Roa’s car, but he quickly left them behind once the action resumed. Another yellow a couple of laps later and then a red saw Roa’s lead dissipate two more times. However, when racing resumed, the field put 10 straight laps in and Roa built a half-straight lead. Another restart saw him again put distance between himself and the pack only to have it disappear with seven laps to go due to a yellow necessitated by a car losing a wheel and a red when a car flipped.
The yellow caution flag finally bit Roa. On what would become the third to last restart, a car dove to the bottom and raced into the lead. However, before a full lap was completed, a sail panel came off another car and landed in turn three bringing out a yellow. The running order reverted to the last completed lap. On the next restart, the same thing happened. The second place car dove to the bottom and took the lead. And once again, the yellow came out when two cars tangled in turn three. So, the lineup went back to the last completed lap and Roa returned to the lead.
The race restarted with four laps to go and this time Roa made sure he was going to stay at the point. He went low into turn one on the restart taking away the second-place driver’s line. From that point on, he pulled away to score his eighth-ever win in the series by 1/3 of a straightaway.
“I don’t know what to say about that one,” the smiling winner said to the crowd. “I feel like we really earned it. We got really lucky with those cautions. Hats off to Jim Naylor (promoter) on this track tonight. That was the way Ventura is supposed to be. You know, banging the boards around here. Rolling around the infield, that stuff is boring. This May Motorsports car is so badass to drive. I feel this is one of my best joints. Especially when it gets up around the fence like that. Huge thanks to the May family and all of their partners in this deal.”
Roa will get Labor Day weekend off before hitting the track for three straight weeks. On September 10th and 24th, he will be back in the May Motorsports car in the West Coast Series at Bakersfield and Ventura. Sandwiched in between on the 17th, he will be in his own #91R for the USAC/CRA Series race at Perris.
If you wish to hear Roa’s recent appearance on the Dirt Tracks and Rib Racks podcast, you can do so at the following link https://spoti.fi/3cjQrLL.
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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