USAC/CRA point leader Brody Roa continued his impressive season in the Inland Rigging #17R when he raced to a second-place finish last Saturday at the Mohave Valley Raceway. The finish allowed the Garden Grove, California driver to extend his lead to 34 points after the first four races of the year.
An impressive field of 30 cars showed up to entertain the packed grandstands at the track that is located just minutes from the Colorado River. After a delay due to repairs on the corner signal lights, the cars went qualifying. Roa, who came into the night with two wins and a second-place finish in the first three races of the year, turned in the second-fastest time of the night with a lap of 13.966. Teammate Tommy Dunkel of Murrieta posted a 15.513 on his first-ever visit to the track.
Roa, the 2016 USAC West Coast, and 2019 USAC Southwest Sprint Car champion, started sixth in the second heat race. By the end of the first lap, the veteran driver had steered his way up to second and he shot into the lead in turn one on lap two. However, in a traffic jam coming in turn four on the second go around, he got clobbered from behind and slid back to third. Not one to rest on his laurels, Roa ran the top in one and two and the bottom in three and four. By the end of the third lap, he was back up to second and he flew back into the lead on lap six. He led the remainder of the way in the 10-lapper and scored the victory by eight car lengths.
One race later it was Dunkel’s shot in the heat races. Starting in the seventh spot, he initially moved up to sixth in his first-ever race at the track. After a good battle for the position, he slipped back and finished in seventh.
Dunkel was right back on the track for the 12-lap B main. Starting in 11th, he got caught in someone else’s mess in turn two on the opening lap and came to a stop. He restarted at the back and worked his way up to ninth, but a spin sent him to the back again. With just three laps remaining, he quickly worked his way back to ninth. However, he ran out of time as he had to get back to sixth to garner one of the transfer spots to the A main.
The show wrapped up with the 30-lap main event that had Roa starting in sixth. The first five laps featured a tumultuous amount of yellow flags. Roa stayed clear of the high-powered chaos and moved up to fourth. The “Pride of Garden Grove” was docked in that spot until the end of the 19th circuit when he advanced to third. At that point, he was still not done. He chased down and passed the second-place car with two laps to go. However, by that time the leader was long gone and the only hopes Roa had were for an intervening yellow flag. Neither of those scenarios played out and he had to be satisfied with a hard-fought-for and well-deserved second-place finish.
“Thank you all for staying around and watching that,” Roa told the crowd when interviewed by Ronnie Everhart after the race. “I was hoping for a caution there at the end because I think we were pretty good. At least make him (winner Chase Johnson) work for it instead of him out there cruising by himself. All jokes aside, congratulations to those guys.”
“It was a tough track to pass on,” Roa continued. It was, don’t miss the bottom but don’t hit the water. Another second, on the year, we will take it. Thanks to all my guys. My dad, my wife, my daughter, Zac (crew chief Zac Bozanich), Tom & Christy (car owners Tom and Christy Dunkel), and their whole group.”
Roa is taking the Easter weekend off, but teammate Dunkel will be racing his powerful Shaver 360 in Saturday’s VRA Sprint Car race at Jim Naylor’s Ventura Raceway. It will be his first race at the track since last November’s Turkey Night Grand Prix. On that night Dunkel transferred from the B to the A main where he started 22nd. He moved forward throughout the 30-lap race and came home with an impressive 13th-place finish. One month earlier on the popular 1/5 mile oval, he finished third in the VRA main event.
If you want to see Dunkel live on one of the country’s most popular racetracks this Saturday, spectator gates will open at 3:00 p.m. and the first race will be at 5:30. Adult tickets are $18.00. For seniors 60 and over, and military & students with id, it is $15.00. Kids 12 and under are free when they are accompanied by an adult. The track is located on the Ventura County Fairgrounds at 10 W. Harbor Boulevard (93001). The website is http://venturaraceway.com/ and the office phone number is (805) 648-RACE.
As always, Roa would be more than happy to jump in a race car on his weekends off from the #17R. His entire schedule is printed below. If anybody wishes to contact him about open dates, they can do so at 714-932-7994 or mailto:[email protected]
The team wants to thank the following sponsors for making the 2023 season possible. Inland Rigging, Dunkel Farms, United Asset Sales, Osborne Speed & Machine, Sander Engineering, “Biker” Bruce Fischer, ALR Virtual Services, Burris Racing, Caltrol, Competition Suspension, K-1 Race Gear, Molecule, Rod End Supply, Driven Racing Oil, Baldwin Filters, and NGK Spark Plugs.
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