Geoff Ensign took to the Petaluma 3/8ths just one week after narrowly missing out on winning the recent Civil War 360 race he led for 27 of the 30 laps seeking redemption. He was thisclose to winning the main event, but a hooked rut ended his run to the checkers and he ended up a hard luck 2nd. In addition to the redemption on his mind, Ensign also had to show some versatility when he made it four different disciplines in four races when he took to the track at Petaluma Speedway in a Wingless Sprint Car of the carbureted variety after racing a Wingless 410 at Chico, a Wingless 360 on pavement at Madera and most recently a Winged 360 at Petaluma the week prior.
Right out of the box, Ensign was fast, setting 3rd fastest time in qualifying. The time would put him on the outside third row of his heat after lineups were posted. In his heat race, Ensign put himself in a transfer position and jumped into the top 5 immediately. The Human Highlight Reel didn’t stop there and jumped all the way to 2nd by the end of lap 2. He would ride out the heat race there and put himself solidly in the inversion draw mix for the main event. The draw wouldn’t be so kind to Ensign and he would start 8th after a 10 was drawn. “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to be coming. We’re fast.” Ensign said with a smile during a break in the action.
As the green flew, Ensign started his march to the front and quickly became “the one”. He was noticeably fast and making time coming through traffic. By lap 5, Ensign had came from 8th to 2nd and set his sights on the leader. A quick move on the bottom of turn 2 put the Sebastopol driver on the point and it was smooth sailing as Ensign would pull away from the field, the only car turning sub-15 second laps on the track. He would make it look easy and seemingly was poised to cruise away with a convincing win……until he started to lose ground to the new 2nd place car and former track champion David Press of Foster City. A yellow with two laps to go and a fast closing Press led to some drama in the stands as Ensign has a large (and growing)fanbase at Petaluma. Turns out, Ensign was just protecting his line and he was confident during that last yellow. A last gasp attempt to win it from Press was fought off by Ensign and the Finkenbinder 3f crossed under the checkers for the team’s first win of 2011. “The car was fast all night long. I didn’t want to give up the bottom. The top wasn’t the place to be and I didn’t want to overdrive it and get off the bottom because the car would’ve just slid up the track.” Ensign would say from the pits with a smile, only halfway alluding to the Civil War near miss the week earlier. The taste of redemption is sweet.
Ensign goes back to the pavement next week in Anderson, CA at Shasta Speedway for Round 3 of the USAC Western Classic Racing Series where he currently sits fourth in points after two races, just 15 points out of the top spot.
To contact Geoff Ensign, search Geoff Ensign Motorsports on Facebook or email him at geoffensign@rocketmail.com.
- Ron Lingron on Apr 18, 2011
- Article Date: 4/18/2011