by John Manzi, for the Catskill Amateur Drivers Club

Monticello, NY — Monticello Raceway has hosted amateur driving events for nearly four decades. Those races, mostly for sportsmen, usually didn’t produce fast miles. But as the younger upstarts seek to pursue careers as drivers, using the amateur races to gain needed experience, the final times have been faster than usual.

Over the years many notables of today, especially at Monticello Raceway, began their fledgling careers as an amateur driver. Perhaps the most prolific of the aforementioned former amateur reinsmen is last year’s Hambletonian and Hambletonian Oaks winning driver and Driver of the Year, George Brennan.

Brennan, who grew up in the Monticello area, began his illustrious career in amateur races before going on to greatness and today many consider Brennan to be among the best of the best.

Jordan Stratton, too, another alumnus of Monticello Raceway’s amateur races, today competes regularly with Brennan at Yonkers Raceway where he is among the Hilltop oval’s leading drivers.

In 2008 Stratton became the youngest driver — at age 21 — to win the driving title here at Monticello Raceway after showing his prowess in amateur events in previous seasons.

But Brennan and Stratton weren’t alone in using amateur races to further their careers. Current Monticello standouts Jimmy Taggart, Jr., Greg Merton, Mike Merton and Kyle DiBenedetto are also products of amateur racing.

As good as the aforementioned tailsetters were during their pre-professional careers, none of them turned in the fastest mile ever by an amateur driver.

That record belongs to Gary Campbell. On June 21 Campbell guided Lady On The Attack to a 10 length, 1:56.2 victory in the final of the Catskill Amateur Drivers Series. Prior to Campbell’s triumph, Dave Yarock’s 1:56.4 victory with Big John B was the fastest amateur mile ever on a double oval.

“My mare was real good in the Catskill Final,” Campbell remembered. “I had to gun her to the lead in :28.2 and she just kept on going. I was like a passenger — a smiling one at that. She eased up a bit in the last quarter or she may have approached (1):55 and a piece.”

Two legs of the Catskill Amateur Driver Club are slated this weekend at Historic Track.

“I’ll be there to test them,” Campbell warned. “Lady On The Attack should get around the Goshen oval real well.”