Newly-appointed World Speed Motorsports driver, J.F. Veilleux, a native of Boucherville, Quebec, and World Speed rookie Akihiro Asai are gearing up for a top-notch performance through the streets of Toronto for round seven of the CART Toyota Atlantic Championship series in Toronto, Ontario, July 14 – July 16, part of the Molson Indy Toronto, CART FedEx Championship weekend. This weekend, the World Speed Motorsports team will be joined by Veilleux, who will be driving the #14 World Speed Motorsports/Northwest SpeedWerx car in Toronto as well as in Trois-Rivieres. He replaces Northwest SpeedWerx regular Pete Mercier, who has had a difficult rookie season in Atlantic competition.
“We’re real excited about putting J.F. in the car,” said Rick Waddell, founder of Northwest SpeedWerx. “Not only does he have a winning track record, he also exemplifies the role of Northwest SpeedWerx in assisting young, talented drivers without the financial resources to climb the CART ladder.”
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.Veilleux, most recently finished ninth and tenth, respectively, in the first two rounds of the Atlantic series earlier this year at Homestead-Miami Speedway while driving for Michael Shank Racing. After Veilleux’s funding fell through at the last minute, he was left rideless until Chuck West, team owner of World Speed, and Waddell offered him the seat at World Speed. As one of Canada’s most heralded young racers, Veilleux, 26, has a winning background in the Canadian National FF-1600 Championship, the U.S. F2000 National Championship and selected Motorola Cup events before moving up to Atlantic in 1999.
“I’m very thankful to Chuck and Rick for giving me the opportunity to race with their team. It’s great that I’ll be racing on Canadian soil, especially on a street course like Toronto with its fast corners. We should have a good run this weekend. I hope to repay Chuck and Rick with some decent results,” said Veilleux.
Asai, who first joined the World Speed team in Milwaukee, has aggressively jumped headfirst into the Atlantic series with great success, “I’m looking forward to Toronto. It seems that with every race I feel more comfortable and more confident with the car. In Cleveland, we were running as high as seventh in qualifying, so I know we are capable of running at the front in Toronto,” said Asai, who drives the #15 World Speed – Pro Staff/Walker Racing Swift 008.a.
A native of Tokyo, Japan, Asai began his career racing go-karts at age 15, when he raced in the Japanese National Kart Championship, winning at Sugo. After a few years in karts, Asai traveled to the states to attend a five-day course at the Skip Barber Formula Dodge racing school, where he became hooked on formula cars. “My first real formula car experience was at Skip Barber. It was a great feeling, the car felt so solid,” said Asai.
It was at that time that he began racing professionally. In 1994, Asai participated in the ESSO/Formula Toyota Championship where he earned top honors as the highest-ranking rookie (eighth). From there Asai competed in the Japanese Formula 3 and Formula 4 Championships, scoring the victory from the pole while making his Formula 4 racing debut. Asai continued to break records and earn victories, winning two and claiming six of 12 wins and six pole positions in the Eastern Formula 4. He was also the first driver, in the Formula 4 to win on the Motegi road course, after the track opened in 1998. Last year, Asai completed a full season in Australia with the Formula Holden Australian series, where he finished fifth in the championship. His most memorable moment in Australia was at the Adelaide Street Course where he finished fourth after starting 18th on the grid while setting the fastest lap.
World Speed Motorsports is considered one of America’s most dynamic racing organizations, featuring entries in CART’s Toyota Atlantic Championship, as well as the Star Mazda Pro Series. Founded in 1991 by West, World Speed initially focused on the Formula Mazda series where West finished third overall and won the Rookie-of-the-Year title in his first season as an owner/driver. 1992 resulted in the series championship by virtue of West’s five wins, ten podiums and three track records. Since then, World Speed has captured six Formula Mazda championship and five pro series Rookie-of-the-Year titles under West’s guidance and Doyle’s engineering expertise, featuring such drivers as Ben Massey, Pete Wise, Mike Conte, Mike Miller, Jeff Bucknum and Grant Ryley.
Last year in Atlantic, World Speed campaigned French-born Brazilian Nicolas Rondet, who averaged a top five running position at every race and captured a podium finish in Trois-Rivieres.
This weekend’s CART Toyota Atlantic activities begin Friday, July 14, with Atlantic practice at 9:30 a.m., followed by the first qualifying session at 1:45 p.m. Saturday, July 15 commences with Atlantic practice at 8:00 a.m. followed by the second qualifying session at 11:30 a.m. Race day, Sunday, July 16, begins with a 15 – minute warm-up session at 8:45 a.m., before the start of the 35-lap Atlantic race at noon.
The Toronto race will be televised on CTV Sportsnet Monday, July 24 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern and RDS, Saturday July 29 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. ESPN2 and ESPN International will also televise the race, Sunday, July 23 at 10:00 a.m.Round eight of the 12-race CART Toyota Atlantic Championship season takes place in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, July 30 for the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres.