By Scott Daloisio
(Cypress, CA, March 27, 2024) Weather permitting, for the first time since 2022, veteran sprint car racer Brody Roa will team up with Taft, California car owner Jason May at this Saturday’s Dave Calderwood Memorial at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway. It will be the inaugural race for the Ultimate Sprint Car Series presented by Inland Rigging.
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Brody Roa driving Jason May’s #8M to victory at the Central Arizona Raceway in September 2020.
Ben Thrasher photo.
Roa made several starts in May’s gorgeous #8M prior to 2023 and to say the duo was impressive whenever they showed up at the track is an understatement. Their most memorable win came on August 8, 2022, in the USAC/CRA race at the Santa Maria Raceway. Wheeling May’s 360 car against a full field of 410s, Roa qualified seventh fastest and started the main event on the pole. After leading the first 14 circuits on a track that was rougher than a volcanic lava field, the Garden Grove, California racing star lost the lead on the 15th go around. Not to be denied, he hung close to the new leader and snatched the top spot back on lap 21. From there, he led the final nine laps for a very exciting win.
Eight months later, Roa and May swept a racing weekend in California’s Central Valley. They kicked things off on Friday night in an open comp 360 race on the same Kern County oval he hopes he will be racing on this weekend if Mother Nature cooperates. Twenty-four hours later they made the short 64-mile drive to Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway and triumphed once again.
Tulare not being his best track, the victory surprised Roa. After the race, he told infield announcer Bobby Gerald and the excited crowd, “”If you would have told me I would have won a race at Tulare I would have told you that you were crazy. On an average night, a shopping kart could beat me around here.”
Roa’s first triumph for May was a surprise as well. A week before Labor Day Weekend in 2020, Roa received a call from May offering him a ride in the #8M for the first ever Central Arizona Speedway Sprint Car Series races. Roa gladly accepted the offer and won the main event on the Casa Grande oval. One night later, he started the main in 13th and despite losing his brakes around the halfway mark, he came home in sixth place.
“I did not drive for him at all last year,” Roa said on Tuesday night. “2022 was the last time I ran for him. He did not run many races last year. One car is brand new. A new DRC. Similar to my package that I have here, so, I am looking forward to that. He spent a lot of time and effort getting engines back together last year. Part of the reason that he did not race a lot I think. He was collecting all of his eggs to put a good package together. I think we are both optimistic on how it is going to go if we get this weekend in.”
“I couldn’t even tell you,” Roa exclaimed when asked how many races he and May won together. ” I was talking about it with my dad the other day. It seems like almost every time we went out we won.”
Last Saturday Roa drove a car for longtime racer and car owner Jack Yeley in the Avanti Windows and Doors USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series at Arizona’s Cocopah Speedway. Unfortunately, that night ended a lot earlier than he hoped. After qualifying 12th in the 17-car field, the crew made some alterations to the car before the heat race.
“It was a bummer for sure,” Roa recalled about the short night. “We started off a little slow. We started tuning some things in and made some big changes for the heat race. We rolled around for a few laps. Right before we got lined up I went to hot lap out of turn two. About 150 feet on the gas, it let go. I do not know exactly what broke but it spit the driveshaft out of it. That was the end of our night.”
The May Motorsports entry is sponsored by Winfield’s Racing Engines, RDM Mechanics, Cooper’s Propane, TJM Distribution, TJM Distribution, Ten West Towing, Arctic Sea Mining, Wesco International, Elite Signs and Fastenal.
Roa would like to thank his own sponsors, “Biker” Bruce Fischer, ALR Virtual Services, Burris Racing, Caltrol, Competition Suspension, K-1 Race Gear, Rod End Supply, Driven Racing Oil, Baldwin Filters, and NGK Spark Plugs. If you would like to be a marketing partner in 2024, contact Roa using the information at the top of this release.
@inlandrigging, @dunkelfarms @roygamityanauctioneer @burris_racing_usa @mikeburrisoc @csishocks @theoriginalloosebruce @alrvirtualservices @k1racegear @moleculesports @rodendsupply @baldwinfilters @ngkracing @originalngksparkplugs @usacnation @usac_cra @perrisautospeedway @b_roa91 @tai_xoxo_roa @zacboz35 @joegibb83, @caltrolinc @narc410 @drivenracingoil
Brody Roa’s 2024 Racing Results
03/16/24 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 4th A Main
03/23/24 Cocopah Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars DNS – Broke