For the second week in a row, Brody Roa of Garden Grove, Calif., scored a hard-fought victory in the USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series. With this win, which took place at his Park in his County Raceway in Bakersfield, California, Roa took his fourth win in his first 7 Series race in 2023.
The week before, in his first race since 2021 at Hanford’s Kings Speedway, Lore took a hard-fought win in the 30-lap main event. Saturday’s race was tougher and he had to be pushed out from behind! Main Before attending his event, Roa got off to a good start in the city known as “California’s country music capital.” He was the third fastest qualifier in the 17-car field and won the ten-lap heat race after starting sixth.
Similar to his heat race, Roa started sixth in the main event, Inland Rigging #17R. He held on to the outside line and moved up two positions to fourth on the second lap. He dropped to bottom on lap four, slipping into third place. He went straight back to the top of the racetrack and five laps later he moved up to second. At that point, all that was between Lore and Leader was a lot of real estate. Like half straight value!
‘Pride of Garden Grove’ began to chip away at the leader’s advantage and by lap 14 was just inches behind. However, as the leader and Roar approached the first corner, another car slid to a halt in the middle of the corner. Both tried to take evasive action. Roa turned the steering wheel inward and was able to overtake the stopped car. However, the leader who tried to go around the outside did not go so far. That meant Lore would be the leader when the race resumed.
Lore quickly pulled away on the restart, building an advantage of nearly two seconds by the end of lap 19. That brought in another yellow flag and the race was about to change color.
When the green light flashed again the lore restarted nicely and was back on top. Unfortunately, that reboot wasn’t enough. The second-placed car was at the bottom and took the lead from Roa before completing 19 laps. If that wasn’t enough, he took advantage of the bottom of the 3rd place car to pass Roa coming out of turn two. With 10 laps to go Lore was suddenly relegated to 3rd place, but it wasn’t over yet.
Lore, not wanting to be bottom, stayed true to the outside line and started gaining momentum. By the end of the 23rd round he was back in his second place. The 2019 USAC Southwest Sprint champion of his car, he stalked the leaders and caught him on lap 25. He continued to lead until exiting Turn 4 at the end of the circuit on lap 25, crossing back under his opponent to regain the lead. A few seconds later he bobbled in Turn 2 and briefly dropped from the lead, but drove hard down the bottom and was in front again in Turn 3.
With Roa building a slight lead, the drama seemed to be over. It wasn’t. He started the final lap with a three-car advantage. He stayed wide but caught a small rut at the final turn four. He flipped the car over for an instant. However, Roa pulled it together, kept the throttle and took the photo finish victory. His win rate was .026!!!
“We are delighted,” Lore said after getting out of the car. “After the heat race, I wasn’t sure if it really was. As soon as the[main]shots were fired, we were really good. Tommy (Tommy Malcolm, who finished 3rd) and Mitch (Mitchell, who finished 2nd) Molls) got me to that restart.I had to regroup a little bit and grab some knobs and put this thing back a little bit.Was that the cause or was it because I was elbowing I don’t know if it was just raising the
“Yeah, it was definitely wide,” Lore replied when asked about track preparation. “Anyway, I’m not a bottom fan right now. I really don’t like rough. Neither line was good, but I definitely wasn’t going to go to the bottom. also drove me to the bottom so i said i can’t go in there and run it’s not for me so let’s try and keep working at the top i finally got it rolling again and they The track definitely widened, I’m glad I didn’t chase the leaders to the end, it was a two-lane race and I definitely kept my elbows up.”
Roa’s performance in KCRP saw him leave the track with a 110-point lead in the championship points standings. He has the best start in his USAC/CRA Series history. Out of 7 races he has won 4, finished 2nd and finished 5th. His main His event completion rate is an amazing 1.85!!!
This Saturday, May 6th, Roa heads to the 1/3 mile Mojave Valley Raceway in Arizona. He has made two previous appearances on the track. The first was last October, when he started 11th in the 30-lap main. That night the experienced racers raced through the field to a convincing win in front of a packed house. He made his second appearance five weeks before him. On that occasion, he was his second fastest qualifier, starting sixth and winning his race heat. He started his 6th place in his 30-lap main event and finished 2nd. It is his one of only three times this season that the talented driver has failed to take home his USAC/CRA championship trophy.
Roa welcomes his teammates to Mohave Valley this Saturday. Inland Rigging team owner Tommy Dunkel is back in the saddle for racing at ‘Copper State’. At the April 1 race, the Menifee, California driver finished his ninth in his B-main. A week later, he led every aspect of his VRA sprint to his main event win for the first time in his series at Ventura Raceway. It will be Dunkel’s fourth sprint car start of the season.
For fans looking to see the Inland Rigging Team drivers in action on Saturday, Mojave Valley Raceway is just minutes from the Colorado River and just 20 minutes from Laughlin, Nevada. The address is 2750 E. Laguna Road, Mohave Valley, AZ (86440).The office phone number is 928-336-4000 and the website is Mojave Valley RacewayAdult tickets are $25.00. $20.00 for Seniors 60+ and Military (with ID). Children ages 6-12 are only $5.00 and children 5 and under are free. Tickets are cash only (there are no ATMs on site). Cash or card for shops, souvenir stalls, and beer gardens). Gates open at 5:30pm and the race starts at 7:30pm.
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
