Grant Ryley today captured his second career Atlantic podium and highest road course finish ever for the World Speed Motorsports’ Atlantic team by virtue of his third place finish in today’s CART Toyota Atlantic race at the Molson Indy Toronto. Ryley also jumps to second in the rookie points championship and to sixth overall in the season standings.
“Today feels really good,” said Ryley, who drives the #14 Northwest Speedwerx/ Cupertino Electric/Velocity Ventures/Del Monaco Specialty Foods Swift. “It’s been a tough season for us so far and this is what we’ve been working for. We started tenth, and I actually touched the wall on the first restart and came back to finish third. There were a few incidents in front of us that worked to our advantage, but we also had a great car. Many thanks to Chuck West and my engineer Mike Doyle. It’s great to have a strong finish, especially with Rick Waddell of Northwest Speedwerx here. Hopefully, we can keep this momentum up for the oval in Chicago.”
Ryley is coming off of his first career Atlantic pole and podium last month at Milwaukee, and made his first race appearance on the streets of Toronto today. David Rutledge led flag-to-flag to take the lead in the season championship, and was followed by Hoover Orsi and Ryley.
He most recently captured second in the 2000 Mazda Pro Series. His Mazda pro series record includes five wins, five poles and four track records while driving for World Speed’s pro Mazda team. In 1999, Ryley finished second in the rookie championship by virtue of one win, three podiums and two poles. For 1997 and 1998, he competed in the Skip Barber Formula Dodge Western Series and continues to serve as an instructor at the Skip Barber Racing School.
Northwest SpeedWerx was established to identify aspiring young drivers and assist them with the resources and promotional guidance to move their careers forward through participation in a multi-year driver development program. Focusing on CART’s ladder system, including the Toyota Atlantic Championship, the goal of Northwest SpeedWerx is to train the next generation of drivers for competition in the CART FedEx Championship.
Based in Palm Springs, California, World Speed Motorsports operates multi-car programs in CART’s Toyota Atlantic Championship, as well as the Star Formula Mazda Pro Series. Founded in 1991, World Speed has captured six Formula Mazda championship and five pro series Rookie-of-the-Year titles since its inception. Last season, World Speed captured their first Atlantic victory at Gateway International Raceway with driver Case Montgomery.
Espn2 will broadcast today’s race on Sunday, July 22, at 10:00 am ET, with an encore presentation on Thursday, August 2, at 4:00 am ET. Round seven of the 2001 CART Toyota Atlantic Championship takes place at Chicago Motor Speedway on July 29.
Further information is available on the team’s web site at www.worldspeed.com as well as the official Atlantic series site at www.toyotaatlantic.com.