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What Kind of Women? — Samantha Osborn

Class of 2021

Samantha Osborn

The need for speed

Driving at age 3, racing quarter-midgets at 6, in the winner's circle on asphalt against the "big boys" at 18. Dock junior Samantha Osborn has steered a determined course as a race car driver.

 

Racing seems to be in your blood. How did your family get started?

 

My dad raced at Wall Stadium Speedway in Wall, NJ when he was in his 20's. He was always into racing but he couldn't afford it at the time. Then when my brother and I turned 3 years old he got us a go kart to start practicing in the yard. We drove that for two years and then he decided it was time to get us into real race cars. So, when we were 5 years old, he bought a trailer and two Quarter Midgets; 2008 was our first full race season.We were always in the garage with our dad growing up. That is our favorite place to be when we are home, even to this day.

How did you come to love racing? Was there a moment growing up where you knew you wanted to be behind the wheel of a race car?

Personally, I was scared when I started racing. I drove around the track as slow as I could, just having fun, not competitively racing. I was scared of flipping my car. Then one day in practice with Dylan we hit each other and I ended up flipping and realized it is actually somewhat fun, and now in my 12 years of racing I have flipped three times. From that day I have never been scared behind the wheel of any car.

However, it took me till about 2011 to actually win. At that point I was 9 years old and I wanted to win but wasn't good enough. I started practicing more and working with my dad as much as I could to get better. Then I won my first race and had all the confidence in the world to go out there and win. The following year I tied for a track championship and that is the year that really started all of my success.

The following year I won the Light World Formula Grand National Championship in New Smyrna, Florida. That was probably the best day of my life. Light World Formula is one of the fastest classes in Quarter Midget racing and I was the one kid in the whole country to win that race. The following year we moved up into Asphalt Late Models! 

The best win of my life

My best memory of racing is the 2016 Eastern Grand Nationals. My family and two friends went down to New Smyrna, FL, to compete in the biggest race of the year. Every kid who qualifies comes to this race and tries to win the national championship.

We decided we were only going to bring one car for me, one for my brother, and one for my friend to race. This was a little concerning to me because then I only had one shot to win a championship. I was racing in the Light World Formula division. This race was my third time racing in this division and I was a little worried but I knew I would have to be confident in order to win. A driver with no confidence will never win.

I did not qualify to well and did not do very good in the heat race either. Somehow with the points system they had set up to figure out the starting grid for the feature race, I ended up starting first in the main event. I knew I would have to keep my focus and confidence up in order to beat kids who race at this track every week, compared to me only racing this track for the first time that weekend.

 

 

While we were sitting in staging getting ready to race, one of the home track kids I was competing against said to me, “Oh don’t worry about this race, I got this thing won.” Later he made a few comments about my car because it was not painted all pretty like his was, mine was just all black with a piece of painter's tape I wrote my name on with sharpie. Little did he know I would be his biggest competitor.

I set the pace for the beginning of the race and I have learned over the years how to play mind games with my competition when leading a race. I made some confusing moves at the beginning of the race and took the lead, there were a few wrecks that brought out the yellow flag. That meant we had to do a restart. I did some more magic and pulled ahead of everyone else and won the race. I was shocked. I went from barely being able to get around that track the day before to being the fastest kid on it the next day. That was the best win of my life. 

"I went from barely being able to get around that track the day before to being the fastest kid on it the next day. That was the best win of my life."

What is it that you love about racing?

One of the things I love is the feeling of driving a car as fast as possible around a small track with up to 25 other cars all trying to be the first one to the finish line. It is an amazing feeling no one would understand unless they experience it. When I race, I am so focused and relaxed at the same time I never experience that anywhere else. I do not think at all while I race, I just leave it all to my reactions and what I feel is right at the same moment it happens. 

Another great thing I love about racing is the people I meet along the way. I am not super close with my extended family, but the people in my life from racing make up for it completely. I have what I call a racing family. These are the people I know I could call any second of the day and they would be there for me. Every dedicated racer has these kinds of people in their life. I love to hang out with my racing friends, even if they are older then me and mostly guys, because most of the time they treat me just like I’m one of them and it’s always an amazing time getting to be with those types of people. I also learn so much from these people. I learn more then I could ever imagine from them. I have met some of the smartest people in the automotive world and I know they will be very helpful to my success in the future. They teach me not only about race cars and how to be fast, but also about life. There are some things you just can’t learn in school and from your parents. I would not be the person I am today without these people in my life. I have an amazing job surrounded by these types of people that I get to learn from every day and every weekend I get to hang out with more of these guys and learn about the real world and race cars.

What is it like for you being a female driver?  

Being the only female in my division is an interesting experience. Many people love to see me be successful because it is not common to see a girl racing. My age also plays a part in this, no grown man is going to be happy about being beat by a teenager, especially a girl. However, during a race no one cares who you are, they are going to race you as hard as they can. I think off the track people may be nicer to me because I am a teenager, which is expected. I want to try my best and prove to everyone that young people and girls can be just as good, or better, then adults, or guys, in a sport which is mostly dominated by men.

Lamplighter is grateful to Walt Smith Photos and Grades 9-12 Principal Mr. Martin Wiens for these photos and videos

The cars she's driven

So far in my racing career I have driven three different types of cars. Quarter Midgets, Hobby Stocks, and Late Models. Quarter midgets are small race cars built for kids. Hobby Stocks are front wheel drive street cars turned into race cars, and Late Models are full out race cars like I explained before. I don’t think I can choose one of them to be my favorite. I learned so much from each type of car I’ve driven. They each had their own benefit as well. Quarter Midgets go extremely fast for the size of track they race on and that is such a rush and amazing feeling.

Hobby Stocks are not the most intense thing to drive, but they are not as serious to drive. You can go on the track and mess around and have fun if you want to, because those cars are so cheap and easy to build.

Asphalt Late Model stock cars are very serious and more intense to drive than Hobby Stocks are. They are full size, full body stock cars. They have hand-fabricated chassis and roll cage systems built to protect us while racing at such high speeds. The Late Model class is an open competition class, meaning there are no age restrictions. The motors in these cars are allowed to be up to 360 cubic inches, which typically make between 400 and 500 horsepower. We are limited to a minimum total weight of 2,800 pounds and race on a specified 10-inch racing tire, which makes for very close and fast competition. The bodies on the cars are styled to look like Chevy SS cars, but there are no factory Chevrolet parts on our cars. The bodies are an approved and specified aero dynamic package to keep the competition fair and fast. These cars are full out, hand-built race cars. 

With Late Models you have to be smooth, focused, and professional. In Late Models you are in one of the highest levels of Saturday night stock car racing and the fans come to see some serious and good racing. You are not expected to go on the track and mess around. You are also racing for a lot more money in winnings as well. The cars also cost a lot more. So, with all of that it is essential that I take my job as a race car driver seriously and try to do the best I possibly can while protecting my equipment.

Samantha taking the checkered flag in her midget.

Where do you want to go from here? 

My plans are to keep moving up. I would like to win some more races at Mahoning Valley Speedway in the Late Model and possibly get a championship there. I would also like to travel some more and go to bigger and faster tracks. I also plan to race for another team in the Micro-stock division at Snydersville Speedway and Shellhammers Speedway. This is to get more experience behind the wheel of different cars and on a dirt track. Another plan I am working on is to use my own money to buy a Champkart to race at Snydersville and Shellhammers. This will be a good experience to learn how to manage a car totally on my own, and what’s better to spend my money on than a race car!

After high school we will really be able to go bigger and better in our racing program and focus on it even more than we do now. I fully expect at that point to be winning more championships and traveling all over the country. I would also like to get some big name sponsors to help us out. None of this would be possible without sponsors. Perhaps I will be able to get an asphalt modified and do the Race of Champions series sometime in the future. My ultimate goal is to get my name known all around the country in motorsports, or at least in the northeast. I want to be known as a really good, fast, and clean driver. 

What’s it like to race against your brother?

Racing with my brother Dylan is really fun. We practice with each other and work on our techniques and strategies together and help each other learn that way. While we are actually racing together we try our best to help each other if we can. However, when you’re on the track it’s every person for themselves and we won’t hesitate to race each other as hard as anyone else. So basically having my brother race with me is helpful for training and learning, but during actual races he's just another competitor.

Watch Samantha and Dylan in action