“Now that the baseball season is over I can concentrate a little more on my love of amateur racing,” “Yankee Joe” Lee, the locker room manager for the New York Yankees said after he won a NAADA Trot this afternoon at Monticello Raceway.

Well maybe it was that concentration Lee was referring to that enabled him to earn another driving victory when he won the Billings trot tonight with On The Podium in 2:00.3 at Yonkers Raceway.

After a wire-to-wire victory in the daylight at The Mighty M, Lee found the winner’s circle under the lights with a covered trip after he gunned his trotter to the front and then sat comfortably in the two hole and followed Wygant Prince and “Coach Paul” Minore's lead.

Although the :29-second first quarter took some sting out of Wygant Prince there was more stress for the old veteran when he didn't get a breather because he had to contend with a parked-out Gianni and driver “Mighty Matt Zuccarello.

So while the aforementioned duo slugged it out on the engine Lee sat calmly in the pocket and was carried all the way to the top of the lane.

Along the way Bobby “Rapid Rail” Krivelin with Permanent Joy, and Bob “the Brewster Flash” Ciavardini with Baltimor AS, worked their way into contention by the top of the stretch but not before Joe Lee scooted around Gianni and everyone was chasing On the Podium to the wire.. However, nobody caught him as Lee had a driving double, albeit at two different racetracks. Baltimor AS was second best while Permanent Joy had to settle for the show dough.

Unlike the Monticello trots earlier in the day this was a non-wagering affair. Jose Godinez trains the winner for Lee, Tony Nicometo and the Blindswitch Racing Stable.

For Joe Lee, who drove initially in 2010 and for the next five years only when he got time off from his obligations to the Bronx Bombers was he able to enjoy the competition of driving a spirited steed. During those years he notched five victories in 88 starts but since then he's had 41 driving victories and a National Amateur Driver of the Year Award bestowed on him last season. And his 10 wins thus far this year puts him in contention for another award.

(CKG Billings Series)