VOLUME 57 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 15, 2020 P85
points and confidence. Heading
into the Florida race, Cianciarulo
had been slowly but consistently
cutting into Osborne's points lead
and was just 14 points shy of the
Husqvarna rider. After Osborne's
double win, he headed to the
next round in Colorado with a
29-point cushion. More impor-
tantly, there were just two rounds
remaining.
"I think the weather worked to
my advantage," said Osborne. "It
was hot, and I was prepared for
that, riding every day. When the
conditions are gnarly like that, I
just feel a little bit of a sense that
I'm kind of better. That's my ele-
ment. When the suck is high and
the suffer is high, that's when I
feel my best. It was just kind of
a mental win for me that it was
hot that day, and I just went out
there and kind of executed."
Thunder Valley and Fox Race-
way, the final two rounds, were
all about managing the points
lead, and Osborne was able to
do so, with 4-2-5-7 moto finishes
in the final four motos. In the end,
Osborne beat Cianciarulo by 12
points in the final standings.
Despite being under a lot of
pressure at the beginning of the
series finale in Pala, Osborne
was as humble as ever having
just wrapped up the title.
"It felt good, a relief," said
Osborne. "I had a good lead in
the standings, so I knew it was
all about getting a good start and
just staying off the ground and
taking care of the bike. There
was a lot of stress, but I knew my
chances were good."
DEALING WITH ADVERSITY
When asked about the rocky
parts of the season, Osborne
gave a typical "Osborne" answer.
"I've just kind of learned to
embrace the situations that I'm
dealt," said Osborne. "There're
times in my life where if you
would have told me, you're going
to be on this team doing this,
this, and this, I would have been
like, 'heck yeah, sign me up.'
So, for me it's really important
to just kind of keep all that in
perspective and really focus on
all the good things I have go-
ing on and focus on my family.
There's always something wrong
that you can focus on if you're
Although Osborne
held the points lead
all season, Adam
Cianciarulo kept it close.
Osborne scored a big
win in the heat of Florida.
Osborne tasted
champagne a number
of times throughout
the nine-round season,
but none of them was
probably as sweet as the
one he tasted at round
two when he nearly saw
his championship hopes
washed away due to a
mechanical.
