by John Manzi, for the Delvin Miller Harness Drivers Association

Monticello, NY — The 29th season of the Billings Series — now to be known as the C.K.G. Billings Harness Driving Championship Series — begins its seven-month run on Friday, April 23, at Pompano Park.

Nine avid amateur drivers will line up behind the mobile starting gate with their diagonal-gaited steeds and race the usual one-mile distance in the second race on the South Florida track’s 10-race program.

The Pompano Park wild card event is the only one in April but before the month of May draws to a close there will be five contests for Eastern Region members and five for the members of the Midwest Region.

Featured drivers at Pompano Park on Friday will be familiar names and longtime members: Dein “the Jupiter Gem” Spriggs; “Joltin Joe” Pennacchio; Mike “the Mortgage Man” Mitchell; Simeon “Hot Rod” Hunsdon; Peter “the President” Gerry and Steve “You’re Never Too” Oldford. They’ll be joined by new members “Loxahatchee John” Campagnuolo, Gro Anita Formia and Jamie “the Bulldog” Marra, all who have competed successfully in the local Florida Amateur Driving Club events.

Expected to return to action this year in the Billings are Tony “the Capo” Verruso, the winner of the Billings Gold Cup Final last year; “Buckboard Bob” Miller, who copped last season’s Silver Cup Final; and Michelle “the Belle” Ruvola, who took home the 2009 Bronze Cup trophy.

All the Billings Championship Finals last year were raced over the five-eighths-mile oval at The Meadows and all involved with the series this season are appreciative that the management of The Meadows will again host the Championship Finals which will be contested in early December.

The C.K.G. Billings Series is unique in that drivers, not horses, are nominated for the competition although participating trotters must fit certain criteria to be eligible to race.

Each participating driver must be a member in good standing with the Delvin Miller Harness Drivers Association and licensed by either the USTA or Standardbred Canada and at the state or province where required. The fee for regular members is $400; student member (ages 15-21) fees are just $50 although non-student junior members (ages 16-21) must pay $150. A patron nomination fee of $200 permits four starts only, although residents of Florida and states west of the Mississippi and Canada are allowed five starts.

There is still time to nominate to the Billings Series and those who would like to participate to harness racing’s greatest traveling sideshow must have their nominations mailed to the Delvin Miller Harness Drivers Association, 240 Main St., Goshen, NY 10924 on or before the closing date of May 1, 2010.