Bob Osborne receives special award

BOB OSBORNE TO RECEIVE AWARD FROM PENN STATE

Concord, N.C. (January 4, 2007) - In recognition of his outstanding professional accomplishments, Bob Osborne, crew chief of the No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion, will receive Penn State University's Alumni Achievement Award for 2006. The award is sponsored by the Alumni Association at Penn State University and is presented to one person from each college at Penn State (a total of 10). Osborne is receiving his award as a member of the engineering college.

"It's pretty cool to be recognized by your alma matter for your accomplishments," said Osborne. "I'm proud to be associated with and recognized by such a great institution. I definitely have to credit some of my success to the great education I received at Penn State."

This is the third year the award has been given. The award is presented in an effort to demonstrate, particularly to students, that Penn State alumni can succeed in exceptional fashion at an early age and that it does not necessarily take a lifetime to make one's mark on society. Osborne has certainly done that. With his work as an engineer and crew chief at Roush Racing, Osborne continues to make history with drivers such as Carl Edwards.

"I'm really proud of Bob", said Edwards. "He's a really smart person and he's had a lot of success in a short amount of time so I think it's awesome that Penn State would recognize that."

Since 1997, crew chief Bob Osborne has worked his way up the NASCAR ladder of success. Patience, drive and determination have helped land Osborne in the coveted position of NEXTEL Cup crew chief for Carl Edwards and the No. 99 Office Depot team, although racing wasn't always in his plans.

Osborne is a native of Chester, Pennsylvania and graduated from Penn State University in 1997 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. It wasn't until late in his junior year of college that Osborne got the itch to go racing. While working on a Formula SAE project, Osborne became friends with the gentleman who ran the shop where Osborne's project car was being built. Carson Baird is a retired IMSA driver and crew chief that spent time talking to Osborne about racing and told Osborne that if he had to do it over again, he would get involved with NASCAR as the racing was much more interesting. Osborne took that advice to heart and from there made the decision to work in NASCAR and the rest is history.

For six months after he graduated Osborne spent day and night knocking on doors trying to land a job with a Winston Cup team. Finally in January of 1998, Osborne was given the opportunity to work for the No. 96 Winston Cup team as the tire specialist. Osborne worked for the team for one year, never relying on his engineering degree but knowing that his time and patience would eventually pay off.

At the end of the 1998 season the No. 96 team closed its doors and Osborne went on to work for owner Jack Roush and Roush Racing where he's been working his way up the ladder ever since. Osborne started out as a general R&D data acquisition engineer where he worked at the shop traveling only to tests for the first two years of his Roush Racing career. After two years, Roush Racing decided to employ an engineer with each Cup team. Osborne was assigned to the No. 6 team where he spent the following two years as the team engineer traveling to each race and becoming the right-hand man to the crew chief. During that time Osborne also took on R&D wind tunnel projects and then assumed the title of director of engineering in 2003.

Osborne's first outing as crew chief came during the spring Darlington race in 2004 with veteran driver Jeff Burton. In August of 2004 Osborne received word that rookie Carl Edwards would be taking over the driving duties of the No. 99 Office Depot Ford. Although both were rookies, the team never missed a beat and Osborne coached Edwards to a 10th-place finish in his first career NEXTEL Cup start at Michigan. Since then, the team of Osborne and Edwards has seen a lot of success chalking up four wins, 17 top five and 27 top 10 finishes along with two poles while finishing third in the overall point standing in 2005. Osborne is looking to 2007 to make another run at the NEXTEL Cup championship with Edwards and the Office Depot team.

-credit: roush racing