Geoff Ensign went back to a place where he has enjoyed one of his best nights of racing and most recently, his worst. Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway called for Round 4 of the Hoosier Tire California Civil War Series and Ensign, driving Dave Vertullo’s Starr Property Management, North County Plastering 83v had some revenge on his mind returning to the track where he didn’t even make the A Main event the last time he was there.
When rains came in the Saturday before this special Sunday show, there was a lot of head scratching going on in the pits about car setup and seeing just what the track would do as the night wore on. There was plenty of it, as 49 cars signed in on this night, the biggest turnout of 360 Sprint Cars of the year at any Civil War race so far. Ensign came out early in qualifying and laid down a time firmly in the inversion of 24 cars, and sat on the outside pole for his heat race.
As the green fell, Ensign knew he was in trouble, as his car would not turn. Slowly, he faded back through the field, as the car had a vicious push to it, and he finished 5th in his heat race, one spot out of the automatic transfer to the A Main event finishing behind Sean Becker and Steven Tiner, two people ahead of him in the Civil War Standings.
As the B went green, 8th starting Ensign’s car wasn’t much better, still looking more like a snowplow than a sprint car, and Ensign, although not going particularly fast found himself 6th and in the last transfer spot with three laps to go….until a car flashed by while Ensign pushed off of turn 1 and into turn 2. Ensign, knowing time was running out, stayed smooth and ended up passing that same car as the white flag flew. Ensign would grab the last transfer spot to the A and after all of his frustration, was going to the big show at the end, albeit starting 22nd and last.
22 cars lined up for the start and Ensign, although last, was happy with the conditions as they were more similar to his home track of Petaluma than typical Chico, heavy and hooked up as opposed to dry slick. More adjustments had been made and The Human Highlight Reel was in a more comfortable car, the push not there as much. Staying out of trouble, and taking advantage of opportunities as they came up, Ensign threaded and weaved and bounced and drove past 15 cars this night, earning every bit of his nickname in the process, and ended up as the hard charger of the night, finishing 7th overall, a win to the 21 year old Sebastopol wheelman as it could have been much much worse. Afterwards, a tired Ensign was all smiles and relieved…”I’ll take it. We fought this thing all night long. A top ten is just fine after a night like this.”
Ensign’s next race is scheduled to be this weekend, although weather could play a factor, so he’ll play it by ear until the next Civil War Race Wednesday, June 8th at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds and Placerville Speedway.
To contact Geoff Ensign, search Geoff Ensign Motorsports on Facebook or email him at geoffensign@rocketmail.com.
- Ron Lingron on Jun 01, 2011
- Article Date: 6/1/2011