Seventeen-year-old Joe Bongiorno overcame traffic troubles to sweep past the field of eight in the $4,000 American Harness Drivers Club Fall Pacing Series Final Friday night at Meadowlands Racetrack

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Bongiorno guided Oh Whata Guy to a two-length victory in 1:58.1. Newton (Yogi) Sheridan trains the four-year-old gelding whom Bongiorno’s mother, Barbara, owns. Bongiorno’s enthusiasm for the sport is no surprise considering his family legacy. His father, Bob, is a retired trainer and his mother is the daughter of Harold Dancer, which makes her a great niece of the late Hall of Fame driver-trainer Stanley Dancer. Bob and Barbara Bongiorno are longtime horse owners at the Meadowlands.

The junior at Colts Neck High School in Colts Neck, New Jersey has already experienced success in his young career. Bongiorno was the winner of the Eastern Regional final of the Billings Series for amateur drivers at Harrah’s Chester. He also won three of the five legs of the Fall Pacing Series, capping it off with Friday night’s win.

(Meadowlands Racetrack)