World Speed Motorsports veteran Grant Ryley continued his mastery of the short ovals to finish second in the final round of the Star Mazda West Coast Series Red Line Oil Championship, Saturday night at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, California, on a night that had two World Speed drivers in the top five and the third an innocent victim of high banked short track racing. Ryley, driving the #14 Cupertino Electric/Del Monaco Specialty Foods Mazda, extended the teams’ consecutive podium streak to nine race events.
Ryley, drving the #14 Cupertino Electric/Del Monaco Specialty Foods Mazda, made a strong start from his second qualifying position pulling away from the field with pole sitter Steve Lopez and moved into the lead when Lopez’ engine expired in a shower of sparks down the front straight, but the run out front was short lived as lapped traffic had a decisive outcome on the event. Matt Beardsley used lapped traffic to close up on Ryley and then get inside him in turn one when he got blocked again just before the halfway point of the race. “Once he got stuck behind the #77 car of Scott Kusy the race was over,” team owner Chuck West said after the race. “For about twenty laps every time Grant tried to make a pass Kusy would turn down and block him.”
When Kusy finally acknowledged the waving blue flags from the starter and allowed Ryley to continue the pursuit of Beardsley the laps were running out. “It is just unfortunate we had so much trouble with lapped traffic,” Ryley said, “once again Mike and the Worldspeed crew gave me an excellent race car. We definately had a car to win the race tonight.”
Series Rookie Scott Bradley continued his strong runs this season as he brought the #19 Polycom/Radvision Mazda home fifth. “I was battling traffic all night and the balance of the car kept changing from lap to lap so I had to focus on maintaining my position,” Bradley said.
Frank McCormick, racing a limited schedule this season in his #16 Onyx Pharmeceuticals Mazda, was bitten the hardes by the lapped traffic bug as he got caught out by a spinning car in turn four at the midpoint of the race. “I saw the #13 car start to spin in front of me and went high to avoid him but he was still rolling and hit my left rear corner,” Frank said afterwards. The damage to his suspension would not allow him to continue.
The World Speed Motorsports Mazda team will return to the track July 20-22 at Sears Point Raceway in Round 2 of the Star Mazda Best Western TV Championship (Round 8 of the West Coast Series).