By Tim Morris
Joe Bongiorno is living out of a suitcase, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
The 22-year-old from Colts Neck is one of the leading drivers in harness racing thanks to a virtual nonstop schedule that has him driving as many as 70 races in a week at Freehold Raceway (Thursday-Saturday), the Meadowlands (Friday-Saturday) and at Northfield Park in Ohio (Monday-Tuesday), where he stays in a hotel. When Harrah’s Philadelphia Racetrack in Chester, Pennsylvania, reopens next month, that will keep him busy on Sundays as well as Thursday-Saturday when Freehold closes. Right now, he is driving at Freehold during the day and the Meadowlands at night.
“I look forward to racing every day,” Bongiorno said. “It’s what you sign up for. It’s been my dream. I’ve done way more than expected.”
Bongiorno comes from a racing family. His mother, Barbara, owns standardbreds, and his father, Robert, has been a trainer and owner. If that’s not enough of a pedigree, Barbara Bongiorno is the daughter of Harold “Sonny” Dancer of the famed harness racing family from New Egypt and Joe Bongiorno’s great uncle was the late Hall of Famer Stanley Dancer.
Joe Bongiorno’s young career has been nothing if not spectacular. He earned his stripes early. He was the U.S. Harness Writers’ Association National Amateur Driver of the Year in 2011 and after turning professional at 18, he earned his first $1 million in purses at age 19.
That early success is the reason he’s so busy right now driving at racetracks all over the east coast.
“Things are going very well right now,” he said. “I work hard, and I’ve gotten lucky.”
The luck was catching the eye of Ron Burke, one of the country’s leading trainers. That led him to win the biggest race of his career, finishing in a dead heat with Make Or Miss in the $489,400 Valley Victory Stakes for 2-year-old trotters. It was the biggest purse he ever raced for.
Make Or Miss is staked to the Hambletonian — the biggest race in harness racing — and Bongiorno said he would love to have the opportunity to be in the field. The Hambletonian, which is for 3-year-old trotters, is Aug. 6 at the Meadowlands.
By racing all over, Bongiorno has had to adjust to racing on half-mile, five-eighths and mile tracks.
“It’s different all over the place,” he said.
The biggest difference is the five-eighths track at Northfield, which is banked. Instead of trying to race along the rail, Bongiorno explained that drivers live on the outside.
Bongiorno has come to enjoy racing in Ohio.
“I love it out in Ohio,” he said.
Going to a track where the drivers and trainers were not familiar with him, Bongiorno knew he’d be tested.
“The first few weeks were a little tough,” he said. “[The drivers] tried to park me. I wasn’t going to back down and drove aggressively. I earned their respect.”
The Colts Neck harness driver ranks fourth in wins at Northfield, second at Freehold and fourth at the Meadowlands. He ranks in the top five nationally in total wins (129).
While he described his racing style as being up close, there is no one size fits all way to drive. That’s why every race is a learning experience to Bongiorno.
“The more races you have, you learn to become more patient, stay calm and level-headed,” he said.
It’s just as important for drivers to get to know their competition, trying to learn the tendencies of the horses and drivers they face. That was something Bongiorno had to learn about Northfield. At the Meadowlands and Freehold, he has that familiarity with the drivers and horses.
Like most drivers, Bongiorno will look the racing program over before heading to the track to get an idea of what he’ll be up against that afternoon or evening.
By the numbers, Bongiorno is well on the way to having his best season yet. With 129 wins in March, he should easily surpass the 192 victories he had in 2015, which was his best year to date.
If Bongiorno maintains his winning pace for the rest of the year, he could reach another milestone: 1,000 career wins. He currently is closing in on 800.
Another milestone that he would cherish would be driving in a Triple Crown race — in this case, the sports biggest: the Hambletonian.
Bongiorno takes nothing that he has achieved for granted. He’s doing what he loves to do and humbly said, “I hope it continues.”
There’s no reason to believe that it won’t.