Grant Ryley, lead driver for the World Speed Motorsports CART Toyota Atlantic team, is ready to rumble on the streets of Toronto this weekend, for round six of the 12-race 2001 CART Toyota Atlantic Championship season this Saturday at the Molson Indy Toronto, part of the CART FedEx Championship weekend in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
After a season-high second place finish and pole position at Milwaukee last month, Ryley fell victim to contact with another driver on the first lap in Cleveland two weeks ago, and subsequently dropped to 11th overall and fourth in the rookie championship in his first year of Atlantic competition.
“I’m definitely ready for this race,” said Ryley, who drives the #14 Northwest Speedwerx/ Cupertino Electric/Velocity Ventures/Del Monaco Specialty Foods Swift. “We’ve just had some bad luck in the past two events and we feel our time has come. Being new to Toronto, I’ve prepared as much as I can. I’ve watched a lot of in-car camera footage and played as many video games as possible. The track looks like my type of place and the Canadian fans are just the greatest. I think we’ll be fast when it counts the most and, hopefully, put on a great race this weekend.
Ryley 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.
This weekend’s Atlantic race is the featured event on Saturday and will be televised live in Canada. The Atlantic schedule begins with a 40-minute practice session at 11:00 am (EDT), followed by a 30-minute qualifying session at 3:15 pm on Friday, July 13. Round two of qualifying begins at 8:45 am on Saturday, July 14, followed by the 35-lap race at 3:15 pm.
Further information is available on the team’s web site at www.worldspeed.com or the Atlantic series site at www.toyotaatlantic.com.