Merry micro-sprint
BUTLER TWP — He spent the summer dominating the racing season.
Now Dash Osmer, 12, of Butler Township, is using his Micro-Sprint race car to ring in the Christmas season.
“A lot of people can't get out to see the Christmas lights,” Dash said. “So why not bring the Christmas lights to them?”
With the help of his father, Dan Osmer, Dash decorated his car with holiday lights. He and his father have displayed it at various sites — the Rock House in Slippery Rock and Clearview Mall parking lot among them — along with putting the car on a hauler and taking it through neighborhoods.
“We've got 16 strands of lights on there with around 75 lights per strand,” Dan said. “It took us three or four hours over two nights to get it done.
“It's pretty colorful.”
It's pretty noticeable too.
“We get a lot of reactions when we take it out,” he said. “People honk their horns, yell 'Merry Christmas' or just plain smile.”Dash's mother, Heather Osmer, was unaware the car was being decorated. She was called out to the driveway once it was completed.She stared in disbelief.“I was so excited,” Heather said. “I'm pretty sure I cried.“We were pulling out of a gas station with it and someone rolled down his window and yelled, 'Nice!'“It's great seeing this car make people smile during such a trying time. This brightens up what has been a crappy year.”Following in the racing footsteps of his father and grandfather, Dash won 23 heat races and 14 main events in go-kart racing during the 2019 season.He started out this year winning four go-kart feature races in five tries. While at Blanket Hill Speedway for a race day, Dash was approached by the owner of a Micro-Sprint and was asked to drive it in a race that day.“He had never gotten behind the wheel of one of those things in his life,” his father said. “He got bumped into near the finish and still finished second.”Goodbye, go-kart.Hello, Micro-Sprint.
“This is what I'll be racing next year,” Dash said, pointing to his decorated car. “I hope to be racing a Sprint car in a couple of years.”But that's in the future. Dash is all about the present.When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March, Dash walked door to door in his neighborhood, passing out masks to whoever needed them.“We do a lot of work in the garage, and we wear those masks to protect our faces,” he said. “We had them and people needed them. I guess we handed out 50 or so.“It only took about 30 minutes: no big deal.”His parents — and Dash's 16-year-old brother, Wes — aren't surprised about Dash's train of thought. Most 12-year-olds are thinking about being on the receiving end at Christmas.“Most kids don't think that way,” his father admitted of handing out masks and decorating a race car in lights. “It makes me feel good that Dash does.”Heather Osmer agreed.“It makes my heart happy,” she said. “Dash is not your typical 12-year-old. He's wired differently.”She said her family keeps the holidays in proper perspective.“I lost my job in November,” she said. “I told our kids Christmas was going to be a little tight this year.“But it's not about that. Christmas is about being with family, extending kindness and love, spreading cheer. My boys get that. COVID has helped our family become tighter. My boys don't fight with each other much anymore, and I love that.”Wes drives the quad that pushes Dash's Micro-Sprint onto the track. He also does public relations work for his brother on Facebook.“This isn't a hobby for him,” Wes said of Dash's racing. “This is a lifestyle. He's a totally different person when he's around that car.“This has been a sucky year. Getting that (lighted) car to make people smile is really cool. I'm glad he did it.”
