PETALUMA SPEEDWAY - 5/5/12
Two weeks ago, Sebastopol, CA’s Geoff Ensign had a break in his schedule. The 22 year old and two-time USAC Champion did what he always did in that situation, use his racing contacts and found something to drive. Setting up an agreement with Petaluma regular Brett Lay and his Vallejo Coin Exchange/A1A Performance Muffler/D&F Auto Body and Paint #24b, Ensign came into Round 3 of the PitStopUSA 360 Series at Petaluma Speedway ready to roll.
Ensign is almost a throwback to the days of yesteryear, working on the car and doing setups himself when the need arises, his knowledge of sprint cars far exceeding his young age. Brett Lay has an open trailer he hauls his sprint car around on, as old school as it gets. The two meshed immediately, with Ensign spending time at Lay’s home in Vallejo during the week to work on the car and get it race ready. “We got the car dialed in during the week, so we knew it’d run well. The rest was just getting the car locked down.”
With the Petaluma Speedway’s typical tacky surface nowhere to be found, drivers had to be precise where they put their mounts, and most of them headed right to the bottom where the moisture could be found. During qualifying, Ensign qualified 10th of the 18 cars in attendance, something Ensign would actually thank the heavens for later. “During qualifying, when coming off of four for the green flag, I knew we were in trouble. We knew it was dry. We just didn’t know it was that dry. Way too loose.” Ensign said.
Ensign would finish 2nd in his heat race, and when the inversion draw was announced, the 8 pill put Ensign on the pole erasing any worries about his less than stellar qualifying time.
At the drop of the green flag, Ensign opened up a five car length lead on the field by the backstretch, and knew they hit the setup. “Joe (Stiles, Ensign’s crew chief) doesn’t miss many. We got our heads together and went with it. I actually wheelied off of two once or twice, even with the track the way it was.” With Ensign setting the fastest laps of the night while leading the main event, various drivers were working their way through the field in an attempt to run down the runaway leader. Dueling with Ensign was never meant to be, however, as the 22 year old wheelman won from start to finish to win his first main event of the 2012 season, an emotional one to say the least. “This one’s for Ian.” Ensign posted on his Facebook page Geoff Ensign Motorsports, remembering the loss of his crew member Ian Bailey, who passed away a week prior.
Ensign is hoping to race in the PitStopUSA Wingless Sprint Car Series Race #3 next weekend at Petaluma, but plans have not been solidified as of yet.
To contact Geoff Ensign, you can reach him on his Facebook page, search Geoff Ensign Motorsports, follow him via Twitter @EnsignMotorspts, follow his exploits on the web at www.ensignmotorsports.com, or contact him via email at geoffensign@rocketmail.com.
- Ron Lingron on May 07, 2012
- Article Date: 5/7/2012