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This is the story of a dream…a dream which comes to fruition
over the next two weeks.
The hands and heels, what am I driving this week, where do I
show up, how can I get from here to there life of Geoff Ensign has a direction
this week, as a convergence of opportunity, friendship and fate has brought the
22 year old Sebastopol, CA native to the signature race of the division he
hopes to call home for the forseeable future.Always having a sprint car dream and always wanting to go faster than
the next guy since the day he saw his first race, Ensign has three races coming
up in the next week in Iowa, the 360 Knoxville Nationals, the Oskaloosa Front
Row Challenge and the crown jewel of sprint car racing, the 52nd
Annual Knoxville Nationals.
To say he’s had to struggle to put these races on the
schedule is an understatement.Ensign,
coming from middle class roots in a town known more for its environmental
awareness than desire for horsepower has literally had to move his base around
from shop to shop to keep this sprint car dream alive.Having zero sponsorship money behind him at
the beginning of the year, and only support from his family, Ensign has leaned
heavily on the “where am I working this week?” and “can you help me out with
tire money?” angle.He quit his job last
year as a welder to be able to make every race of the USAC Western Classic
Sprint Car Series after scheduling problems popped up, and ultimately won the
yearlong championship in that series, becoming a USAC Champion at 21 years old.Always willing to pack up and sleep wherever
he finds a bed, spending nights in race shops and putting thousands of miles on
his not quite yet broken down 1988 pickup, Ensign somehow has managed to lead the
main event win count at Petaluma Speedway in 2012 with five main event wins in
total between winged and wingless sprint cars all without a major sponsor to
start the year and all without a winged 360 ride to start the year. A vagabond has nothing on this guy. Ensign seems to have a knack for finding a
ride where others can’t, and has teamed up this year with a couple of teams who
have given Ensign an opportunity to continue his dream of racing for a living. He has rewarded wingless car owner Jim VanLare
with three main event wins and winged 360 owner Brett Lay with two.This
is a 22 year old who knows the struggle, is willing to work on his own car
since he’s always had to, knows how to set up a car because again, that’s all
he’s ever known.No sponsors, no extra
money? Having to drive 50 miles to work
on a car for an hour?Calling people
last minute to be able to get a ride to a race? That’s where Ensign lives every day and it’s old
hat for the 22 year old wise beyond his years.This leads us to next weekend…and fate.
Fate has a funny way of working sometimes and a casual
conversation at a bar in Sturgis, SD during bike week turned into this ride for
Knoxville and Oskaloosa.Geoff’s father,
Rob, is a Harley Davidson lover, and had to experience bike week at least
once.Over a beer in Sturgis, he struck
up a conversation with Dave Lems, a fellow Harley rider.It turns out Lems is a sprint car owner and
driver, and the two hit it off immediately.Long story short, and years of friendship later, Rob Ensign has a son
who is a USAC Champion, winning sprint car races, and has a sprint car dream. Lems had always kept his eye on Ensign due to
the friendship, and finally met him at the Oval Nationals in Perris, CA last year
where the two began discussing Knoxville 2012 and Oskaloosa.Fast forward a year and here we are, with
Ensign at the wheel of the Lemspro Racing and Machine #22x for Knoxville and
Oskaloosa. Adding to the good fortune,
Ensign has picked up a 360 Sprint Car ride with John Biggins, also out of the
Sturgis, SD area and will drive his Biggins and Son’s Trucking #83 sprint car
for the 360 Nationals making it three races in a week total, something Ensign
has only dreamed of happening.Ensign
will qualify Friday for the 360 Nationals and Thursday next week for the 410
Nationals.
Ensign also received a phone call last week from Jason Smith
in Victoria, Australia.Smith has been
keeping tabs on Ensign since last year as well when he had his Cinderella run
to the USAC Championship, and has looked in from abroad on Ensign’s website
(donated) and Facebook (free) pages.Smith also happens to own a sprint car and has offered a seat to Ensign
during this winter offseason in the states, which happens to be summertime in
Australia in February and March.The
plan is for Ensign to race about 15 races down under this offseason in the
Master Fitout Solutions #60 house car at various locations.
The race, they say, isn't to the
swift.But it is always to the swift and
the game. It so happens that Geoff Ensign has these two important qualities in
deep abundance.If you can find a driver
willing to work harder and risk more to make his dreams come true, you’ll find
yourself searching for weeks.
The dream continues this Friday in
Knoxville.
To contact Geoff Ensign, search
Geoff Ensign Motorsports on Facebook, contact him via email at [email protected] or
visit his webpage at www.ensignmotorsports.com.
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