The Formula Star Mazda World Speed team, Chantz Wade, Grant Ryley and Scott Bradley finished 3rd, 4th, and 5th at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the Star Mazda Series Best Western Championship in conjunction with PSCR’s Grand Prix of Charlotte. The 30 – lap race, through the 2.25 – mile road course put, Wade, rookie driver to the Formula Star Mazda series, on the podium for a third place finish. “Charlotte is a big drafting track. If you make a mistake or get caught in a back marker you would lose touch with the lead pack and not be able to get it back,” said Wade.
Ryley, who returns for his second season in the Formula Star Mazda series, qualified 2nd and finished 4th. “I did not have a decent start out of the box. I just didn’t time it right. Charlotte is a big drafting track, which hurt me out there. I was fine on the road course section of the track, but as soon as I was on the oval everyone just pulled away from me,” said Ryley. After the race the World Speed engineers discovered that Ryley had a misfiring MSD box, which caused him to lose horsepower during the race. “We found the problem after the race. It’s a shame because the car worked fine just fives hours before the race during qualifying,” said Ryley.
Bradley, another rookie to the Mazda series, started the race in the 5th position and ran as high as third for a couple of laps. “I went from fifth to third and then quickly dropped to fourth, where (Grant) Ryley and I were side-by-side. I raced down to the line for fourth, but Ryley got the position by .013, probably about the length of the front wing, if not less. It was close,” said Bradley.
Alex Figge, who returns to World Speed for his first full-season of Start Mazda competition following a limited schedule in 1999, qualified 9th in Charlotte, but was unable to complete the race. Figge ran with the lead pack for the majority of the race, but with one lap left, he went too wide coming out of Turn 7 and slid on dirt and debris off track. Figge ended up in the tire wall.
“It is unfortunate because Alex was having the greatest race of his career. He was running side by side with many veteran drivers. Keep your eye on Alex, look for good things to come in the future for this nineteen- year old driver,” said Chuck West, team owner of World Speed Motorsports. “I’m really proud of World Speeds’ performance at Charlotte. Four cars in the top 10 during qualifying, that’s really great,” said West.
The Star Formula Mazda series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, will be televised on Speedvision, April 24, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Round three of the Formula Mazda series will be April 29 – 30 at Buttonwillow, part of the Formula Mazda Western series. “I am looking forward to our next race because I know with a team like World Speed we’re going to be in the hunt every time. I think our first win is just around the corner. All of the pieces are there and all we need is for the pieces to come together at the right time,” commented Bradley.