|
Saturday night, May 21st had a chance to be
remembered, depending on who you talk to, for the apocalypse and the end of
mankind. Instead, it will be remembered
by lucky fans of Petaluma Speedway as the night The Human Highlight Reel and The
BT Express tore the place down. The two
young lions of the Sprint Car world, also named Geoff Ensign and Bradley
Terrell set the place on it’s collective ear as they swapped the lead multiple
times over the last four laps ending with a finish that couldn’t be separated
by anything but the transponder scoring.
The night started innocently enough as Ensign showed up
somewhat unannounced in Ted Finkenbinder’s #3f, a ride he didn’t even know was
available until he actually asked Finkenbinder on Thursday night. Terrell, coming back to the races for the
first time in 2011 after suffering a broken hand, was just hoping to make it
through the night pain free.
Nothing at all foreshadowed anything spectacular on the
horizon as Ensign timed in third quick overall and Terrell qualified fifth out
of the 15 cars in attendance. Ensign
finished third in his heat race while Terrell won his first heat race of 2011,
and this is where things started to get interesting. A 10 was drawn for the inversion of cars,
putting Terrell in the fourth starting spot and Ensign 6th in the 25
lap A main event.
As the green flag fell, early leader Jeremy Burt suffered
mechanical woes and dropped out of the top spot. Trent Canales took over and flipped going
into turn three, which handed the lead to Terrell. Ensign was now second, which set the stage
for an epic battle that would last until the checkered flag flew. A restart on lap 18 saw Terrell shoot away
from Ensign, but Ensign reeled in Terrell just as quickly and Ensign got
underneath Terrell a couple times but the two Sebastopol drivers never touched
nor swapped positions. A lap 22 restart
had the crowd buzzing because these two had been throwing everything at each
other for a few laps and with time running out, something had to give. The green flew for the last time, and Terrell
stayed up on the high side as Ensign charged down low. Coming off of turn 2, Ensign had the lead but
Terrell nearly ran around Ensign on the top in 3 and 4 as lap 23 clicked
off. Ensign led into turn 1, but Terrell
shot to the bottom and took the lead back and the fans roared as the two
wheelmen threw it down on the backstretch.
Ensign wasn’t having it and led off of turn four as the white flag flew
and fans inched closer to the edge of their seats. Into turn one they went, Terrell on the bottom,
Ensign through the middle. Terrell
cleared Ensign just enough down the backstretch to take the lead, but Ensign
then crossed over and to the inside of Terrell as they went into turns 3 and 4 together
as Ensign threw a textbook slidejob on Terrell to wrest the lead….until Terrell
came charging back on the top side. Off
of turn four they charged together and the fans rose as one, willing their
favorite to the finish line. Geoff
Ensign, the do everything, race all surfaces with or without a wing Human Highlight
Reel and Bradley Terrell, the BT Express and defending Petaluma Speedway track
champion were locked in a moment that each will tell their children about years
from now, a moment that only comes along in fairy tales and children’s dreams
flying off of turn four together charging to the checkers….
To contact Geoff Ensign, search Facebook for Geoff Ensign Motorsports or email at [email protected].
|
