World Speed driver Alex Figge dominated the Cal Club Double Regional race weekend at Buttonwillow Raceway Park, capturing first place overall in both races, as he finished his preparations for the Star Mazda Best Western Championship opener at Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina on March 31. Figge, just starting his second season of motorsports competition, captured pole position for both races against a combined field of Formula Mazdas and Formula Continentals by posting times three seconds a lap faster than the closest competition, and ran away to victory margins of 40 seconds and 1 minute respectively.
“The car was just awesome,” Figge said after the races, “Telo (Stewart) got the car just right and after that it was just a matter of getting through the traffic. This is a great feeling and a great lift going into the Charlotte weekend.”
World Speed newcomer Rick Waddell, competing for the first time in the Formula Mazda class, qualified 8th overall on Saturday before moving up to a sixth place finish, and came back to qualify 7th for Sunday’s race and finished a respectable fifth. Waddell, a former navy fighter pilot, compared his time in the car to his flight time, “I’ve had as much fun driving the car as I’ve had with my F-4 Phantom, the car was great this weekend and it still has more there for me to find. Grant (Ryley) really helped me find the time out there on the track with his coaching, and Eric (McCombs) gave me a great racecar.”
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 Chuck 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 Mike Doyle’s engineering expertise, featuring such drivers as Ben Massey, Pete Wise, Mike Conte, Mike Miller and Jeff Bucknum.