By Christian Koelle, Staff Writer
Ryan Roulette confirmed to Kickin’ the Tires that he will be making his ARCA Menards Series West debut next month at Phoenix Raceway. Roulette will make his debut driving the No. 77 Bellator Recruiting Academy Toyota Camry with P-1 Motorsports.
“I have been racing for 15 years now all across the US on dirt and asphalt ovals, as well as, in Germany at the Nürburgring road course,” said Roulette. “Growing up close to Knoxville and racing Sprint Cars most of my life, I never thought I’d see myself moving in this direction, but a close friend and mentor of mine, Jesse Iwuji, brought this side of the racing world into my life when he hooked me up with a Pro Late Model Team out in Madera California back in 2018…
The transition to asphalt has been amazing, and although my Late Model Team owner Rick Suarez would tell you that I tend to fall back on old sprint car habits of pinching my corners late in a run, I’m really glad I made this transition. It’s a challenging craft I never knew I would enjoy as much as I do. The Phoenix race at the end of this year was the perfect opportunity for me to make my debut with Joe Nava at PP1M in the #77 Bellator Recruiting Academy Toyota Camry ARCA Car.”
The Minot, North Dakota native has 15 years of stock car racing experience including A-Mods, Legends, Midgets, Sprint Cars, BMW Sports Car, and pro-late models. He has two top-25 finishes in INEX. Along with experience in stock cars, he’s also a United States Air Force pilot.
“My goal for this race is to get some solid seat time in, run all the laps, run clean lines, and gain experience at this level of racing at a track of this size,” said Roulette. “Needless to say, you don’t see a whole lot of 1-mile dirt ovals around the country. There are a lot of strong drivers entering this race, and I look forward to running with them. My plans for 2022 are to run the Chili Bowl in January and split the rest of the season by running with ARCA and with the WRSS in North Dakota.”
Roulette has the support from Bellator Recruiting Academy in his ARCA Menards Series debut which hits home for him as he’s served within the United States Air Force. Bellator Recruiting Academy gives veterans a better platform for transition into the civilian workforce and helps build the gap where it can be a stressful time. The sponsorship comes in an even better time as Veterans Day is on November 11th, six days after Roulette makes his ARCA Menards Series West debut.
“This past year working with the team at Bellator Recruiting Academy has been extremely eye opening for me,” Roulette said about his work with Bellator Recruiting Academy. “Not only did I find a partner to enjoy this journey with, but I also found a friend and mentor. As I previously stated, this race was the one we all wanted to work towards. November holds President Woodrow Wilson’s Armistice Day; affectionately known as Veterans Day. As a USAF member, who comes from a long line of family members who served, Veterans Day is significant in my life. All of our partners we are working with for this race embrace this holiday as well…
Bellator Recruiting Academy leverages its years of expertise and its vast and influential network of recruiting professionals to train and mentor veterans. They position veterans for a career in recruiting that will utilize their highly specialized, multi-disciplinary recruitment training and exposure. Proper Patriot was founded by US Army Veteran Justin Pearson whose mission is to deliver high-quality, reasonably priced, Patriotic apparel that you are proud to wear. Hands-On Driving Academy was created to address the needs of the Veteran community that suffered severe injuries, specifically focusing on individuals that we’re unable to drive without hand control equipment. Veterans serving veterans.”
The Arizona Lottery 100 at Phoenix Raceway will be streamed live on the NBC Sports Gold Package at 3 p.m. and can also be listened to live on MRN and SiriusXM (XM channel 391, online channel 981). The race will also be shown via tape delay on NBCSN on Thursday, November 11th.
Photo: Miranda Alam/ARCA Racing