A good racing weekend became spectacular this weekend for Geoff Ensign as the USAC Western Classic Series blew into the North Valley for a night of racing at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway on Friday and the El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville on Saturday. Driving the Finkenbinder Motorsports/Western Industrial X-Ray #3f, Ensign was looking forward to the weekend as the Series headed back to the dirt where Ensign excels and away from the pavement where Ensign has limited experience. As added incentive, Ensign was sitting 3rd in USAC points coming into this weekend and had a great opportunity to gain ground on point leader Tony Hunt, who has the exact opposite credentials of Ensign as he struggles on dirt and is known for his prowess on the pavement. In the end, the Sebastopol wheelman had ended up 2nd at Chico and one upped himself from that run and became the newest first time USAC main event winner in the country by winning at Placerville Speedway the next night.
Friday night at Silver Dollar, 28 cars loaded the pits and Ensign got the night started off well qualifying 7th, and starting outside of the third row in his heat race. Ensign moved through the field and ended up 2nd, earning a direct transfer to the A Main event. When lineups were posted, The Human Highlight Reel was on the pole.
As the green fell, Ensign wrestled a car that wanted to do wheelies at every opportunity and had to beg and plead with it to make it turn. “I could have probably done a backflip if I hit the gas hard enough.” Ensign would say later. Several different drivers took shots at Ensign, but none could make the pass, as Ensign held steadfast to the bottom. No one except USAC National competitor Kody Swanson could make the pass, and on lap 26, Swanson snuck underneath Ensign and into the lead, which he would never relinquish. “I had a shot to get back under him, but I wasn’t about to run him over to do it, so I had to settle for second.” Ensign said after the race. Night one was in the books and Ensign was on his way to Placerville with a second place finish. As a bonus, Ensign had made up 20 points on Hunt, and was now solidly 2nd in USAC points.
Night two was at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds and Placerville Speedway, and another great turnout of 27 cars showed up. Ensign, riding the wave from Chico, qualified 3rd fastest and ended up transferring through his heat directly to the A Main with a fourth place finish.
Starting outside of the second row, Ensign set his sights on another podium finish, and when the green flew, Ensign made tracks immediately and led the first lap from his outside second row start. From there, a rash of yellow flags stalled the flow of the race, but Ensign stayed strong on the lead and eventually would lead all 30 laps of the main event, winning without many problems and stamping himself as a huge threat to Tony Hunt’s USAC domination on the west coast. “What a great weekend. We thought we could make up some ground when we got back on the dirt, and we’re doing that. I have to thank Ted Finkenbinder who gives me the car to drive and never says no when I want to go racing. We decided to run the USAC deal this year, and hopefully we can keep it rolling for the rest of the season for him. I obviously wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.” an obviously elated Ensign said later.
Ensign’s next USAC race will be back on the pavement at Irwindale’s Toyota Speedway on August 27th.
To contact Geoff Ensign, search Geoff Ensign Motorsports on Facebook or email @ geoffensign@rocketmail.com
- Ron Lingron on Aug 07, 2011
- Article Date: 8/7/2011