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Sebastopol's "Human Highlight Reel" Geoff Ensign lived up to the name
this weekend for the wrong reasons this weekend as two races in two days
and some unfortunate racing luck might have sealed his fate for the
2010 Winged 360 Sprint Car season.
The weekend started out well
enough on his home track, Petaluma Speedway as Ensign put the Able
Maintenance, Nor Cal Transmission DRC in a great positon by posting the
8th fastest time of the 28 cars that qualified. The qualifying time
earned him the 5th starting spot in his heat, with the top 4 making the
transfer to the A Main event. All was going well enough in the heat
race until Ensign got out of shape in Turn 4. Ensign then made
highlight #1 of the night by staying on the gas, lifting the front end
off of the ground and only lifting when it was apparent he was going to
turn the car over. His car came to a stop and he restarted in 8th, 4
spots out of the main event. Not to be deterred, the 21 year old driver
then made good time in moving up through the field and on the white
flag lap, highlight #2 of the night saw him blow past the 98 of Chris
Masters for the final transfer spot to the A Main. The story didn't end
there either as Ensign had the fastest single lap time of the heat race
while moving through traffic.
The inversion draw put Ensign on
the inside second row of the main event. With the weekend starting off
so well, Ensign was looking forward to a good finish versus the best 360
cars in the state. This was not to be as on lap 3 while running 4th,
Ensign chose the high line only to find it blocked by the car in front
of him. Ensign hit the brakes and was forced into the infield, which
sent him to the back of the pack, 21st overall. Essentially out of
contention, Ensign stayed on the loud pedal long enough to get back up
to 13th at the checkers.
"I followed the 2 car into turn 1 and he
looked like he was going to the bottom. I went to the top, but the 2
came up. I was committed and had to hit the brakes. When I did, I got
hit from behind and I held on from there. It's too bad because we were
fast tonight. I could've ran him over, but instead I hit the brakes and
got hit from behind. Racing deal."
Saturday night saw the Heavy
Metal Racing team head to Calistoga for their first attempt to tackle
the famed Calistoga half mile. A lack of cars saw and ASCS format used
instead of qualifying. Essentially, each car races two heat races vs.
the same field with the second heat race starting completely inverted
from the first heat race. Ensign found himself racing for 3rd place in
turns 1 and 2 in his first heat race when his right front spindle
completely came off of the car, sending the 5 car to the pits for
repairs, which they would make for heat race two. Ensign's luck didn't
get any better as he pulled the 5 car into the pits after four laps in
his second heat race.
All of this bad luck resulted in Ensign
starting dead last in the 20 car main event field. Undeterred, Ensign
got his elbows up and started mowing competitors down from the back.
After 9 racing laps, Ensign found himself firmly on the move and
charging through the field.
Ensign would say later from the
pits, "Every lap, I was catching someone and the leaders I could see
were getting closer to me as well. This car was super fast. I thought I
had a car that could win this thing."
Ensign finally reached
8th spot and, coming off of turn 2 on lap 9, he went to the high side to
get around yet another competitor. Luck was bad again for Ensign and
he and his rival ended up on the same piece of real estate and Ensign
climbed a wheel and ended up slamming into the backstretch wall and on
his side, his night ending with a disappointing 16th place finish.
Later
in the pits, the mood was somber, "This might've ended our year.
Unless we can find someone to help us out, we're probably done. It
looks like the frame is bent, but we'll see what we can do. You never
know."
Ensign's next race is slated to be a two night race
weekend for Dave Johnson in the #32 Wingless Sprint Car at Silver Dollar
Speedway in Chico and Marysville Raceway Park in Marysville on August
20th and 21st.
Those who wish to help the Heavy Metal Racing team
or contact Geoff Ensign, he can be reached via his Facebook page
(search Geoff Ensign), or at [email protected].
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