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BRODY ROA TEAMS WITH CAR OWNER JAYSON MAY FOR THE 2024 RACING SEASON

2024-02-16 15:59

(Cypress, CA, February 6, 2024) Veteran Southern California sprint car racer Brody Roa is teaming up with Taft, California car owner Jayson May for the 2024 season. The team will launch its campaign on March 2nd at the Ventura Raceway in the inaugural race of the USCS Sprint Car Series.

The combo first got together in September of 2020 and won the first time out in a CAS race at Central Arizona Speedway. Since that time, they have competed in several events collectively. However, the upcoming race at Ventura will be their first time teaming up since the 2022 Turkey Night Grand Prix on the same ocean-side oval.

Roa, who resides in the shadows of Disneyland in Garden Grove, California, comes into 2024 after the best season of his career. Driving the Inland Rigging #17R owned by Tom and Christy Dunkel, they won the USAC/CRA championship. They took eight of the 18 main events in the series and Roa had a 40.9 win percentage on the year. That was the best victory percentage for any 410 non wing driver in the nation. His total of nine wins tied him for third-most in the nation amongst 410 non-wing drivers. On top of everything else, Roa and his wife Tailor welcomed their second daughter into the world in the middle of the racing season. It was a dream year.

With stats like that, why did he leave the Inland Rigging team, how did he get re-connected with May and what does the future hold? Earlier this week, the "Pride of Garden Grove" took a few minutes to discuss the how's, why's and where's.

S.D.: After having the best season of your career, why did you step out of the Inland Rigging deal?

B.R.: To take a little bit of a step back with the family now. Having time to spend with my family is the biggest reason for my switch. Jayson and his family have such nice stuff and such a good maintenance prep program. That kind of allows me not to have to do that during the week. I want to spend some more time with my family and not being in the garage all week getting ready to go racing.

S.D.: So just to alleviate the rumor mill before it starts, you were happy there and it is an amicable split, correct?

B.R.: The change is nothing against them. We are still friends, obviously. There was nothing about the deal (driving for the Dunkel's) that made me want to do something else. It was the home life and the everyday during-the-week stuff (working on the car). When I talked to him, we left the door open on maybe doing a race together, here and there. Hopefully, that door is still open. That friendship we had is still there. We had a ton of fun last year. Lots of good memories. They deserve an endless thank you for what they did to jump on board as big as they did. They stepped in a big way to chase that championship. Tom wanted a championship and I wanted a championship. That was my only goal last year. Accomplishing that took a lot off of my plate, too. Tom and Christy and Inland Rigging supported me with sponsorship for four or five years before becoming my car owners last year.

S.D.: How did you get reconnected with Jayson May?

B.R.: We never stopped talking when I was not driving his stuff. Jayson and I became friends, too. We talked every now and then. I went to lunch with Tom a few weeks ago with no plan on what I was going to do, but I wanted to back down my schedule a bit. That is when I started talking to Jayson a little bit more. He just bought a new DRC from Scott Benic. He was putting that together and was trying to figure out what he was doing. He did not have anybody committed to run anything. He barely raced at all last year. He was just putting engines together. It all just kind of fell into place. He is going to figure out what he can afford to do and we will put a schedule together."

S.D.: You and Jayson have a history. In fact, you won a CAS main event at the Central Arizona Speedway the first time you teamed up. So, each of you knows what to expect coming into this deal, correct?

B.R.: The first time I ran for Jayson and the Mays was right after my oldest was born. So at the end of the 2020 season. Then I ran a couple of races with him in 2021 and a couple of races for him in 2022. Last year was the first time since that I did not drive his car all year.

S.D.: No championship aspirations this season, correct?

B.R.: Jayson and I are still working on the schedule of what we are going to do. We are going to do some hit-and-miss shows I guess you could call it. A part-time schedule. Nothing full-time for points. Won't be stressing on running a full season again this year.

S.D.: Have you decided where you will be racing?

B.R.: A little bit all over the place. I think mainly over the hill by him. So Bakersfield, Kern, Santa Maria. All of the CRA and USCS shows north of the Grapevine. Between the two schedules, I think you run like 14 races between Bakersfield, Kern, and Santa Maria. There is plenty of racing to do. He will probably come down to Perris maybe once or twice this year. It is so far for him to come down.

S.D.: If something else came up on the nights when you are not driving Jayson's car, would you still take a ride in other CRA races or is that not in the plans this year?

B.R.: If something comes up and it works out, yeah, I am pretty much open to do stuff in good equipment. It all comes to the help side, too. I am tired of wearing my dad into the dirt. This will kind of allow him to rest a little bit at the races. My schedule is kind of open but we are going to kind of play it by ear with the family. If we do not have a race that weekend or anything committed, we can go to the desert or the river or somewhere else.

S.D.: You and your crew have been together for a long time. Are they all going with you to the Jayson May ride?

B.R.: Pretty much the same with the exception of Zac (crew chief Zac Bozanich). Zac is planning on helping Tom this year. I do not know what the title would be, but he is doing a lot of the prep work and ordering what Tom needs to have a race-ready program. All of last year we took my stuff (spares). We had all of the spares. So they are slowly building up Tom's spare inventory. Making sure he is dialed in."

S.D.: Before last year, you ran your own program for over a decade. Do you still have all of your stuff?

B.R.: I do. I still have all of my stuff. We are hanging onto all of our stuff for now. Just because of this change, I am not going to sell all of my stuff. That is pretty committed. I will never be able to buy it all again. We will see what the future brings. Who knows what we end up doing? I may hit the lottery and put my full program together again. We will see.

Jayson May and Roa want to thank the following marketing partners for being a part of the #8M racing endeavors in 2024. May Motorsports, 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. In addition, they thank Roa's sponsors. "Biker" Bruce Fischer, ALR Virtual Services, Burris Racing, Caltrol, Jambo Barbeque Pits, Competition Suspension, K-1 Race Gear, Molecule, 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.

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This release was produced by Scott Daloisio Sports (909) 226-7768 mailto:sdaloisiosports@gmail.com