This message was edited on
November 04, 2010 at
04:45:44 PM by HeavyMetalRacing
After a long trip that proved fruitless for Sebastopol's Geoff Ensign
to the Trophy Cup in Tulare, he was all but resigned to end the year on
that note. Fast forward about a month and Ensign has decided to make
the trip to the Central California speedplant once again, this time with
the same car, but without the wing when the USAC/CRA Sprint Cars come
calling. Again Ensign will find himself underpowered, a 360 motor is
all he has in the shop, but again he will pack up and head down the
road, another race beckoning. He will arrive in Tulare a little bit
differently financially however, as Santa Rosa's Able Maintenance Inc.
has stepped to the plate to support the 21 year old wheelman with tires
and fuel, upping the ante to what they had previously helped out with,
supplying great news to the Ensign family or another owner who decides
to strap the Human Highlight Reel into the seat in 2011.
"We're completely family owned and we all work five days a week
trying to keep this car going. VanLare Steering Repair and Nor Cal
Transmission helped out a ton, and now what a relief to have someone
step up and support us with this kind of sponsorship for 2011. This is huge."
To say Ensign's year has been one long adventure is putting it
mildly. He started his first full season in 360 Sprint Car competition
chasing Rookie of the Year points at his home track of Petaluma
Speedway, heading out of town when 360s weren't on the schedule.
The good: Halfway through the season, Ensign found himself third
overall in Petaluma points, and a comfortable 85 point cushion in Rookie
of the Year points. A trip to Chico with the Civil War 360s found
Ensign running the alphabet, transferring through the C, then B mains,
and then topping that by ending up on the podium, finishing 3rd in the
A. Things were going great guns including an 8th place finish with his
360 against the USAC 410s at his home track of Petaluma. He also put
his 360 on the second row of the main event at Calistoga on the first
night of the Louie Vermeil Classic. Two main event wins while at the
controls of Dave Johnson's Wingless Sprint Car found business booming
for the Sebastopol native.
The bad: Things started to slow when a crash at the Civil War race
at Calistoga Speedway put the 21 year old's family owned mount on the
shelf, squashing any Rookie of the Year hopes at Petaluma. A return to
Civil War action in Chico saw Ensign come from the back row to pass 9
cars in 5 laps when a brake line sheared, ending his night. His Trophy
Cup appearance was short of spectacular when a missed setup found the
Ensign #5 on two wheels more often than all four, finishing deep in the
pack on preliminary night and then losing a rear end gear which caused
peripheral damage to the drive train, ending his weekend.
That's racing, and all this leads us to where we stand now, Ensign
back in his own car, a sponsor supporting his fuel and tires, and headed
down the road:
"I want to race. I left home here in Sebastopol at 18 chasing the
NASCAR dream and I left an ARCA pit crew in North Carolina to come back
here to drive a sprint car. I want to race a sprint car with or without
a wing. Dirt. Pavement. Wherever. Whenever. If there's a car
without a driver, I want to be that driver."
Come November 13th at the Thunderbowl, Ensign puts his 360 to the
test against the best Wingless Sprint Car drivers in the state. Knowing
the young man, he wouldn't have it any other way.
Ron Lingron - Heavy Metal Racing
To contact Geoff Ensign, search Geoff Ensign on Facebook or email him at [email protected].
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