Osborne wins battle with Macenko at Montpelier
By Ken de la Bastide
Two veteran drivers with the Kenyon Midget Series put on a battle royal for the victory at Montpelier Motor Speedway. Trey Osborne and Jack Macenko won their respective heat races and when Osborne drew a 0 for the invert the two lined up on the front row. Osborne and Macenko swapped the lead several times and there could easily have been a few more changes in the top spot. Osborne led the first seven circuits before giving way to Macenko for five laps before reclaiming the lead on lap 13.
Trey Osborne celebrates the win at Montpelier (Aaron Skillman photo)
Macenko lost some ground to Osborne when they encountered lapped traffic but made a charge on the final lap. With Osborne pacing the field, Macenko drove to the cushion in turns three and four but caught a rut, kept control but surrendered two positions.
Rookie Thomas Schrage making his first ever start on a dirt oval started ninth in the feature and moved up three positions in the opening laps. By the one-third mark Schrage was running in the top five and passed Matt Lux for third on lap 16. When Macenko almost spun on the final lap Schrage drove to a second-place finish followed by Lux and Macenko with Dameron Taylor finishing fifth.
“We went back and forth,” Osborne said of his battle with Macenko. “We changed the lead three times and was close several more times. It was a great battle.” Osborne said starting on the front row resulted in his own race with Macenko for the victory.
“Jack (Macenko) tried to make a move in the high groove,” Trey said. “I knew he was right there. I made the right moves late in the race and he (Macenko) made the right moves early.”
Schrage’s impressive run earned him the Advanced Racing Suspensions Hard Charger award. “I never raced on dirt before,” he said. “It was a lot of fun. We had a pretty strong car,” Schrage said. “I though I could finish in the top five after the heat race. Track position was important. I didn’t expect to finish second; I’ll take it.”
Nathan Foster went for a wild ride exiting turn two when he climbed the wheel of Ray Jackson and flipped several times. Foster emerged with no injuries.
With his victory Osborne sits on top of the 2022 championship standings with a 7-point lead over Macenko and Taylor 21 points back.
The Kenyon Midget Series is back in action on May 21 with a return visit to the paved quarter-mile Shadybowl Speedway oval in Ohio.