It might have been the penny, but who really knows?
After winning last weekend’s PitStopUSA Sprint Car Series Round 1 on a typical, hooked up Petaluma Speedway surface, just seven days later, Geoff Ensign had to navigate and tippy toe around a the very same track which would be best labeled as “slick” after the water truck broke before racing. In the end, the results were the same, another win at his home track for “The Human Highlight Reel” and the D&F Auto Body, Rod Buntjer Bail Bonds, Rapid Rooter, Les Schwab Tires #24b.
Timing in as fastest qualifier in a pedestrian 14.550 on a track where sub 13 seconds are the norm, Ensign would earn 4th starting spot in his heat race. Finding traction lacking, Ensign would struggle in his heat and finish where he started, earning a transfer spot to the feature event. By way of being fast qualifier, Ensign would also earn his way into the first three rows of the Main Event via the transfer spot in his heat.
With car owner Sherry Lay on her way to pull a pill to determine Ensign’s starting spot in the main event, she glanced down and found a penny face up. Knowing what that meant to those who are superstitious, she put it in her pocket and went to the pill draw and pulled out a 1, putting Ensign on the pole for the 25 lap feature. Lay informed Ensign of the lucky penny, who then took it and put it in his firesuit for the main event. It couldn't hurt, right?
Ensign would get the jump on the 13 car field and drive off into the night until lapped traffic became a problem on the track where everyone was on the bottom. “I could do one of two things.” the 24 year old said. “I could be patient and pick my spots or throw my car around and make contact, which might have put me on the trailer. I knew we were fast, and it wasn’t desperation time, so I waited.” Ensign would get held up by a slower car, but the yellow came out just as the second place car had erased a 3.5 second lead and pulled into striking range.
On the restart, Ensign re-established his position at the front, and with no traffic in front of him, pulled away and won with room to spare. “Wow. Two different track surfaces in two weeks keeps you on your toes. As long as the results stay the same, I’ll take it. We all have to race on it.” Ensign said from victory lane, his fourth win of the 2014 year, his second stateside in three main event tries under a wing after two in Australia. Ensign also has two seconds in USAC Wingless action in 2014.
Ensign will be back in the very same Lay Family Racing #24b for Round #3 of the PitStopUSA 360 Sprint Car Series which doubles as Round #2 of the Flowmaster 360 Civil War Sprint Car Series at Petaluma Speedway.
To contact Ensign, you can find him on Facebook at Geoff Ensign Motorsports or Twitter @ensignmotorspts. You can also email him at geoffensign@rocketmail.com.
- Ron Lingron on Apr 21, 2014
- Article Date: 4/21/2014 by RJM Promotions