A tale of two seasons
Dave OZ Osborn (Aaron Skillman photo)
By Ken de la Bastide
With the season winding down there is a battle for rookie of the year honors with just a single point separating Dave Osborn from Kyle Ford. Osborn driving for Ray Jackson jumped into an 87-point lead over Ford after the first three races of the season. Since that time over the course of five events, Ford has trimmed the margin by 86-markers with four races remaining. With the season returning to Anderson Speedway, Ford is coming off a third place finish and claiming the K&K Marketing Fast Qualifier honors the last time the series was on the high banked quarter-mile.
Kyle Ford (Aaron Skillman photo)
“The bad news is at one point I had a healthy margin,” Osborn said of the rookie of the year battle. “I don't know what to do over the next few races. “I'm going to have to step it up,” he said. “He (Ford) definitely has stepped it up.” Osborn said his experience at Anderson Speedway in a range of race cars should help, but admitted lately it has not been an advantage.
He said at this point in the season without some additional sponsorship help the team will not be purchasing new tires.
Osborn said he was disappointed the Circle City race was canceled because of weather. “I've been running really well on the dirt,” he said. “Right now we're just hanging on.” Osborn said he has never won rookie of the year honors during his long career. “These will probably be the last few races I run with a series for an entire season,” he said. “Probably just race here and there in the future.”
Ford said the difference in recent races is his getting comfortable in the car. “Right now I'm very comfortable on pavement,” he said. “I qualified really well the last time we were at Anderson.”
With momentum on his side entering the home stretch of the 2022 season, Ford said he is feeling confident. “It would be great to win rookie of the year,” Ford said. “Right now, I don't want the season to end.”
Third in the rookie of the year chase, but not in contention for the honor is Thomas Schrage. Schrage won earlier this year at Anderson but because of a conflicting racing schedule has missed two Kenyon Midget Series events.