Despite his limited time behind the wheel of a traditional sprint car, Trey Osborne made a lot of people stand up and take notice during the 2023 season.
After making only eight starts late in 2022, the 20-year-old native of Columbus, Ohio, decided to race a traditional dirt sprint car on the ultra-tough Indiana circuit.
He was impressive, winning twice at Paragon Speedway and once at Gas City I-69 Speedway. His sprint car success even earned him a USAC Silver Crown Series ride.
Osborne credits his impressive start in sprint cars to his time racing in the USSA Kenyon Midget Series, during which he gained valuable experience on both dirt and paved tracks. Plus, he learned numerous lessons from Mel and Don Kenyon.
The young racer is a bit different than most as he stands 6-foot-8, and one might think his height would cause problems with sitting comfortably in an open-wheel car.
“I didn’t do much USAC National Midget Series stuff because at the time they were making national midgets shorter and all my opportunities were with short cage cars, and I couldn’t fit into them,” noted Osborne. “Now, they are taller and it’s not much of an issue. I can also fit into pretty much every sprint car and Silver Crown car. For the most part it hasn’t been that much of a big deal.”
When Osborne looks at the big picture, his success on dirt is no surprise.
“I hadn’t even run 50 total dirt races until this season,” explained Osborne. “It’s been pretty crazy. I was always comfortable on the dirt and always enjoyed it. I learned a lot from Don and Mel Kenyon. I know a lot about setups and how to build cars from the time I had racing with Mel and Don. I had also learned from local sprint car driver, Saban Bibent, by working on his car for a few years.”
After several years running the USSA midgets, where much of his seat time was on pavement, Osborne ultimately purchased a dirt sprint car.
“With a dirt sprint car, you can end up making a living with it. With the pavement sprint cars, the cost is a lot higher and you race for less,” Osborne explained. “There are also less races. It takes years of notes to be able to learn enough to get anywhere.”
Silver Crown opportunities came late last season.
“Sammy Fetter called and asked me to drive his car at Du Quoin because I had really run good at the USAC Smackdown at Kokomo Speedway in my own car,” Osborne said. “We went to Du Quoin and I think we were fifth quick in hot laps. Unfortunately, his engine blew, and we were done for the day.
“Malcolm Lovelace saw how good I had done that day and asked me to drive his car at Eldora and Indianapolis Raceway Park late in the year,” Osborne added. “He and I are now gonna run the whole USAC Silver Crown schedule.”
Osborne’s impression on the racing community didn’t end there. He was offered the chance to run the entire USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Series for Baldwin/Fox Motorsports. The team is one of the best in the series and has had notable drivers behind the wheel of its cars, including Logan Seavey and Chris Windom.
“It’s pretty crazy. When I look back at it, last year I was still pretty much a hobbyist racer. I was still running Kenyon midgets. It’s just what I was at that point,” Osborne recalled. “I was still at my job a few months ago and I got a call from Ken Baldwin asking me to come up that night to meet him and potentially hire me. He hired me, took me to his shop and said, ‘Here you go kid, build your race cars.’”
In addition to having the chance to compete for rookie-of- the-year honors in both the USAC sprint car and the USAC Silver Crown series this year, Osborne recently received a very impressive accolade.
Just before Christmas, he was named the 2023 Non-Winged Rookie of the Year by the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. It’s safe to say Osborne is more than a hobbyist racer.
FAST FACTS
Birthday: Dec. 31, 2002
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
Series: USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series, USAC Sliver Crown Series
Sponsors: Fox Paving, Industrial Hydraulics, Jeff Hill Trailor Sales, Flint Trucking
This story appeared in the Jan 3, 2024 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
