The brainchild of former Californian harness racing secretary, Dave Goldschmidt, is now going into its fifth year. The 2010 installment of the East-West Amateur Driving Challenge will take place on April 9 and 10 at Cal-Expo in Sacramento, California.

The Californian contingent has won three of the first four annual events, but the Easterners have assembled their most competitive team ever seeking vengeance for their 2009 defeat.

Nineteen different Billings drivers have competed in the event since 2006 and this year, for the first time, two of the four team members are coming back for more,

Team East, comprised of four of the top five ranked Billings drivers, will be treated to spring in The Golden State, and 3-4 races on each of two weekend nights. Local horsemen will enjoy increased purses for the events and fans will be treated to seeing a variation to the professional drivers they see night in and night out at the track.

First-timers Kelly Walker and Dave Ehrenberg join two second-timers Todd Whitney (2009 Amateur Driver of the Year) and Tom Williams (2008 Amateur Driver of the Year) as representatives of the Eastern delegation. First-timer Robert Stepien joins East-West vets Chris Hernandez, Rick Bertrand, and David Siegel representing the left coasters.

Alan Kirschenbaum, California Harness Horseman’s Association President remarked, “The CHHA is happy to continue to support the Challenge as it has the last four years. As an avid amateur myself, I know how much diversity amateur driving brings to our program out here and all over North America. We are particularly appreciative of the Billings group traveling such a long distance to support this unique series.”

Dave Elliott, Cal-Expo’s General Manager agreed. “We love the notion of this special annual amateur event. Amateur racing is at the historic heart of harness racing and we are happy to endorse it. Our local club and the Billing organization are shining examples of what can be accomplished in amateur competition.”

TrackMaster will be providing Racing Fans free programs for the two-day event on their web site.

For information about the California Amateur Driving Club, the Challenge or Amateur Driving in general, please visit www.thecadc.com.