(Cypress, CA, July 10, 2018) Garden Grove, California racing star Brody Roa put on a show and came from the tenth starting spot to win the 30-lap USAC/CRA main event at the Santa Maria Raceway last Saturday night. It was his second USAC/CRA win this season. Dating back to last year he has two wins and a second-place finish in the last three series races at Santa Maria.
Coming into the night, Roa was third in USAC/CRA points and he was coming off a third-place finish two weeks earlier at the series home track, Perris Auto Speedway. Things at Santa Maria did not start out on a promising note for the 27-year-old. His qualifying lap of 13.991 was only good for 10th in the 19-car field.
The abnormal qualifying result put Roa on the pole for his 10-lap heat race. Back in form, he led it green to checkered for a convincing win. While the triumph was impressive, the qualifying performance still looked like it was going to haunt him in the main event as he would have to start on the outside of the fifth row in tenth spot. If he was going to win, he would have to pass a lot of cars and dodge some bullets on the way.
Once the green flag opened the main, Roa began a methodical march towards the front that included some caution to get through a rough first turn. He advanced two spots to eighth on the first circuit. By the end of the fifth lap, he was in the number five spot.
After an elongated battle, Roa used the inside to take the third spot at the halfway point and then set his sights on the lead duo. He chased down the second-place car and used another inside pass coming out of turn four on the 20th lap to secure that position. At that point he had passed eight cars, but to get the ninth car and take the lead was going to take some serious work.
With the leader running the top Roa was going to have to use the inside and middle to get the job done. Lap after lap he inched closer and as the 27th go around concluded, he was nearly dead even for the lead. Going into a rough turn one, he tried to slide up in front of the front running car for the top spot, but was held at bay. Things were different in turns three and four. Roa had worked perfectly at that end of the track all race long. He went low into turn three and slid wide coming off the corner and secured first place. Two laps later, the checkered flag waved and the 91R had the win by nearly a half straightaway.
In addition to winning the main event, the black and green suited driver was also the race “Hard Charger” picking up nine positions from his tenth place starting spot. The victory also vaulted him back into second in the year-long championship point standings.
“That was about the toughest Santa Maria I have ever raced on,” an elated Roa told the crowd after climbing out of the car. “You bike up sometimes getting into one. You had to be patient and let the car settle down. I just went to where they weren’t, and it worked out. We have a good package here (referring to his team). If the driver could work on qualifying a bit, I think we have got something.”
While it was his second USAC/CRA win of the year, it was his fifth sprint car victory. The five 2018 triumphs have come in three different series. Two of the other successes came in the USAC West Coast Series and another occurred in the Ventura Racing Association.
Good news for the Brody Roa Performance crew and bad news for the competition is that the next race in the USAC/CRA series is back at Santa Maria on August 4th. Before that the team will be more than busy. Next week it will embark on a trip to Indiana for the USAC National Sprint Car Series’ grueling Indiana Sprint Week. Starting on July 20th at Gas City I-69 Speedway, the #91R will race seven times at seven different tracks in just nine days.
Brody Roa t-shirts and caps are available from the team’s website at the following link http://www.brodyroa.com/. The cost is $20.00 plus shipping. You can see the new shirt design below. The shirts will be available in the pits at every race during Indiana Sprint Week.
Roa is still looking for rides in the USAC National and West Coast Series’ when his USAC/CRA schedule permits. Car owners from those series interested in hiring Roa can call him at 714-932-7994.
For fans who would like to watch Roa’s 2018 racing exploits, they can do so via LoudPedal Productions pay per view site: https://loudpedal.tv/
The BR Performance team would like to thank the following sponsors for making the 2018 season possible: HD Industries, Burris Racing, “Biker” Bruce Fisher, Molecule, K-1 Race Gear, Norma Leonard, Lee Leonard, NGK Spark Plugs, Baldwin Filters, Driven Racing Oil, Coffman Racing Graphics, hotpaint4u.com. If you or your company would like to join BR Performance’s championship contending team, please call 714-932-7994.
Fans wishing to stay completely up to date with Brody Roa and the BR Performance squad can do so on the team’s website http://www.brodyroa.com/ and Facebook page at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/br91r/
For Further Information Contact Brody Roa mailto:brodyroa91@gmail.com
Release produced by Scott Daloisio (909) 226-7768 or mailto:sdaloisiosports@aol.com