NASCAR Cup Series

FOX bestows second-annual 'The Byrnsie Award' on spotter Chris Osborne

Published Jun. 26, 2016 4:52 p.m. ET

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FOX Sports presented Chris Osborne, Matt Kenseth’s spotter, with the second-annual “The Byrnsie Award” during Sunday’s NASCAR RaceDay telecast from Sonoma Raceway on FS1. Osborne, a veteran in the NASCAR garage, was sidelined the first part of the 2016 season after sustaining serious injuries in an accident with a drunk driver during the holidays.

In honor of late FOX Sports broadcaster Steve Byrnes, whose nickname was “Byrnsie,” the award was established in 2015 to celebrate an individual in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series who embodies principles Byrnes demonstrated daily in his personal and professional life - preparation, teamwork and family within the garage area. Osbourne was voted the recipient by Byrnes’ colleagues on the NASCAR on FOX broadcast team, of which he was a member since the first race broadcast in February 2001. Byrnes passed away in April 2015 following a courageous battle with cancer.

Bryson Byrnes, Steve’s son, introduced the award on-camera from the NASCAR Race Hub studios in Charlotte, North Carolina, while play-by-play announcer Mike Joy presented the trophy to Osborne on the spotters’ stand at Sonoma Raceway.

“The winner of this year’s FOX Byrnsie Award is spotter Chris Osborne who, like my dad, displaced tremendous amounts of strength, courage and determination this year in the garage,” Bryson said on NASCAR Race Day. “Congratulations to Chris. I know that my dad would be very proud.”

In the aforementioned car accident, Osborne, affectionately known as “Crazy” in the NASCAR community, suffered severe right leg and foot injuries. His wife, Melissa, sustained major pelvis, hip, shoulder, arm and elbow injuries, while Osborne’s son, Austin, sustained a concussion, cracked sternum, partially collapsed lung and broken nose. The NASCAR community rallied around Osborne, one of its most beloved spotters, in the weeks following the accident and throughout the ensuing recovery process. Osborne returned to the spotters’ stand at Martinsville Speedway in late March.

“It’s a privilege to be the recipient of the second Byrnsie Award,” Osborne told Joy. “I know Byrnes’ love for everything that he had done in this sport … the determination he had to do his job, and first and foremost, how much he cared for and loved his family, and he put that number one. I feel like our family has been through a lot, and I’ve tried to do the same. It’s a great honor that the FOX group has voted me the second recipient of The Byrnsie Award. I certainly do appreciate it.”