Osborn drives to Dawson County checkers

By Kelly Ninas

LEXINGTON, Neb. (June 20) – Honoring a former racer and die-hard fan, competitors at Dawson County Raceway challenged tooth and nail to earn the privilege of driving into the winners circle on Fred Beardsley Memorial Night Sunday evening. 

Working through traffic, Colton Osborn was able to walk away with the victory in the IMCA Modified feature. Osborn started on the outside of the second row and was fifth overall at the end of the first lap when he started his climb to the front. It was on lap eight that Osborn was able to power his way into the lead and never look back to earn the victory. 

Chaz Baca of Mesa, Ariz., the current IMCA national points leader, was able to move up from his third row start and earn second place accolades. Early leader Dillon Schultz was third.

Being in the right spot at the right time paid off for Brandon Spanjer, who rode the cushion for all it was worth to gain an early lead and cruise to the victory in the Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod feature. 

Jacob Olmstead maneuvered through traffic and into second. Third was Robbie Thome. 

Coming from deep in the field, Mike Nichols earned the checkered flag in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car Feature. Nichols started in the fourth row, was in and out of the lead before midway then scored the lead for good and rolled to victory. 

Cale Osborn took over second. Early leader Jeff Whiting was third.

Starting up front and staying up front was the formula for success for Tyler Barribo in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock feature. Barribo started on the outside of the front row and never trailed to earn the win. 

Zach Olmstead tried his best to take the lead but was forced to settle for second. Coming from the outside of the fourth row, Tanner Jones was third.

Rocking and rolling from the onset, Justin Schmidt was a force to be reckoned with in cruising to victory lane in the Mach-1 Sport Compact feature. Schmidt was able to rocket to the front from his third row starting position in the early going and walk away the winner. 

Jordan Encinger was second and third went to Kaden Dady.