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John DeLong closing in on Running Aces driving title
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Wednesday, 02 July 2008
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Success on the racetrack means John DeLong will face a difficult decision away from the oval.
The 19-year-old harness racing driver from Wisconsin is poised to win his first driving title, at the inaugural meet of Running Aces Harness Park in Columbus, which could lead to putting his college plans on hold.
DeLong took classes during the winter at the University of Wisconsin and previously expressed interest in becoming an equine veterinarian.
“All my options are still open,” DeLong said. “This (driving) is what I really want to do. I haven’t made a decision, yet, and I know I need to pretty soon. Driving has always been the first thing I wanted to do. Hopefully, things can work out and maybe that’s what I will do.
“The last three months have really swayed (my decision). It’s going to be tough. I’ll have to sit down with my dad and really think about it.”
DeLong leads the driver standings at Running Aces with 59 wins and holds a 23-victory cushion over second-place Joey Mapes with nine race cards remaining on the schedule. Last year, DeLong finished second at Prairie Meadows in Iowa.
If DeLong wins the title at Running Aces, he will join Brandon Givens, who won the title at Ocean Downs in Maryland in 2005, as one of the youngest drivers to ever claim a crown at a pari-mutuel track. Givens was 18 when he claimed his title.
“It’s going to be special, that’s for sure,” DeLong said about the driving title. “I’m really young, too. That’s going to be the biggest thing for me, being able to do it at 19.”
DeLong’s father, Jesse, is active as a driver-trainer and operates DeLong Co. Inc., a feed supplier, with other family members. The DeLong’s farm in Clinton features a half-mile racetrack and 22-stall barn.
Jesse DeLong ranks third in the trainer standings at Running Aces, with 27 victories.
“I learned from my dad that you have to listen to people,” DeLong said. “That’s my biggest thing. You’ve got to race the horse the way they want it or you might never get to drive for them again. I have to do what I’m told, pretty much, and things will work out.”
DeLong’s 59 wins this year are only nine triumphs fewer than he had all last year, when his horses earned $153,968. This season, his horses have banked $127,359 so far.
Racing at Running Aces initially presented a challenge for DeLong because he never competed on a five-eighths track. After a period of adjustment, he has flourished.
Of his 60 plus victories, 27 have come in June. His win percentage for the month is 32 percent, compared to 19 percent prior to June.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” DeLong said. “Once I got the hang of it, things just took off. There was a while where I was just doing all right, but in the last month it seems like I’m doing everything right. At first it was really different and it’s a different group of drivers, too. You’ve got to get used to all the different people and their styles.
“I’m just trying to get in the zone, pretty much.”
When the meet at Running Aces concludes on Sunday, July 6, DeLong plans to spend the rest of the summer racing in Chicago, Iowa and Wisconsin.
“I’m going to see what I can do,” DeLong said. “I still want to race at the fairs and help out the family racing theirs; I don’t ever want to forget that. We’ll see where I go from there.”
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