Brody Roa finished in a hard-fought 5th place at last Saturday’s USAC/CRA Main Event at Perris Auto Speedway in the Inland Rigging #17R sprint car. The finish extends the Garden Grove, Calif. veteran’s lead to his 52 points heading into Saturday’s ‘Spanky Matthews Memorial’ at King’s Speedway in Peter He Murphy in Hanford, Calif. .
Roa entered Saturday with two wins and two runner-up finishes in the first four races of 2023. The week before, his teammate Tommy Dunkel dominated the Ventura, leading the entire distance of his heat his race and main his event. Needless to say, the Inland Rigging team kicked off the night as the hottest sprint car he team on the West Coast.
Lore started off as hot as it has been all year. In qualifying he was his 3rd in the 20-car field with his 16.614 laps. Third fastest means the veteran driver will have to start sixth in his 3rd ten-lap heat of his race. From there he moved forward and finished second.
Roa started the 30-lap main event in fifth place on the inside of the third row. In the first half of the race, a seesaw battle took place from 3rd to 7th. After the race’s first red flag with 13 laps to go, Lore found speed at the top of the racetrack and ran up to third. At that point he was probably the fastest car on the track and it looked like he had plenty of time left. But another red flag stopped his progress.
In that red, the crew chief of one of the cars ahead informed the drivers of the progress Lore was making on that line. When the race resumed, that driver wisely moved into the lane Lore was running in, slowing progress and convincing himself of victory. A few laps later, Steve’s Russell checkered his flag ending the race, with Lore taking his fifth place. This year was his worst result in USAC/CRA, and in 2023 he still failed to finish in the top five of the series.
“Average,” Lore said when asked to rate his performance. “It was one of those nights where I think the track played even though no one was doing anything spectacular. ) heard in a post-race interview that Tommy (Mitchell’s crew chief, Tommy Horn) told him I was running the lead. I had a good run around the front last minute and I knew Matt was going to move up and take the lane.”
“I had a chance without that red,” Lore continued. “Between the reds, we adjusted the shock a little bit. was left open.”
The next three weeks will be a short turnover for the Inland Rigging team. Lore and his 17R head to Kings Speedway this week. A week after him on Saturday April 29th, they head north again to his track in the dirt at Kern County Raceway Park. He then heads east to Mojave, Arizona for his May 6th date at Valley Raceway. Roa won his two appearances and finished second. Also returning to the Mojave Valley is Lore’s teammate Tommy Dunkel.
“I would love to race every day if I could,” Lore laughed when asked if he liked racing for the fourth week in a row. “That’s what we want to do. I’m happy to be back at Hanford. We haven’t been there for two years. I think the program we have now will do really well there.” We’ve always run pretty well there, we’ve won in the 360, but we haven’t run much in the 410. Hopefully we can get a win there too.”
Two years ago at Hanford, Lore finished 3rd in the USAC/West Coast 360 Sprint Car and 2nd in the King of Thunder Bandit. He also finished 22nd in one of the few winged races he contested in his career.
Fans wanting to see Lore in action at Kings Speedway on Saturday can find the track at Hanford’s 801 S 10th Ave. Adult tickets are $20.00. Seniors 62 and over, military personnel with ID, and children ages 7-17 are $15.00. Advance tickets are https://www.myracepass.com/
As usual, Roa is happy to get away from the #17R and jump into the race car this weekend. His full schedule is printed below.If you would like to contact him for open dates, please call 714-932-7994 or This email address is being protected from spambots. JavaScript must be enabled to view.
The team would like 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, NGK spark plugs.
BRP PR
