World Speed Motorsports driver Grant Ryley topped the time sheets for today’s open test session at Nazareth Speedway, in preparation for this weekend’s second round of the 2001 CART Toyota Atlantic Championship in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Ryley, in his first appearance on Nazareth’s one-mile oval set a fast lap of 23.407 seconds (145.495 mph) to claim the top spot during today’s final round of Atlantic testing.
“This place is just awesome,” said Ryley, who drives the #14 Northwest Speedwerx/ Cupertino Electric/Velocity Ventures/Del Monaco Specialty Foods Swift. “Case (Montgomery, who won the St. Louis round of last year’s Atlantic series for World Speed) told me I’d like it…and he was right. It’s a driver’s oval, not just flat all of the time. The biggest trick is passing. It’s a single groove track and it’s hard to get a run on someone, but we did alright. The car is excellent. We were running third quick for most of the sessions, then Mike (Doyle – Ryley’s engineer) made a few changes that were perfect. We think we’ll be in good shape for this weekend. After Long Beach, we’re ready for a strong finish.”
Joining Ryley on the two-car World Speed squad is rookie Tom Wood, of Calgary, Canada, who is making his series debut this weekend. Wood’s introduction to Atlantic racing resulted in a visit with the Turn 4 wall as he began to familiarize himself with the Nazareth oval.
“I think I learned what not to do until the tires have warmed up,” said Wood, who will campaign the Atlantic oval events this year for World Speed with support from Super 8 motels. “I was just coming up to speed and the rear swapped ends. I did some damage to the wing and gearbox, but we’ll be fine for Friday’s sessions. I know the team can put me up front…I just have some learning to do with these cars, and I can learn a lot from Grant and Chuck (West, team owner).
Ryley was followed by Hoover Orsi and Tony Ave during today’s sessions. He most recently captured second in the 2000 Star Mazda Pro Series – Western Division championship while driving for World Speed. His record included three wins, six podiums and three poles, as well as third overall in the Best Western National Championship series. 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.
The second round of the 12-race 2001 CART Toyota Atlantic Championship season in Nazareth, part of the Bosch Spark Plug CART FedEx Championship weekend, officially begins with practice at 8:45 a.m. Eastern, Friday, May 4.