What kind of car do you drive? 2021 Chevy Trail Boss Pickup. Favorite dinner meal? Snack? Veal Parmigiana; Any fruit. What is your favorite track to race at? Why? The Red Mile. The atmosphere and the track are both amazing. It is such a nice place, including the town. What is your favorite big event in racing? Hambletonian. Have you ever driven on a Hambletonian Day card or been to the event as a fan? I haven't driven but I've been there on Hambo day. How often is racing on your mind? Pretty much 20 hours a day. What is your favorite thing to do outside of racing? Anything outdoors -- hiking, ride horses, mountain biking, kayaking. What is your favorite sport to watch? Team? Baseball -- Cleveland Indians. What is one thing about you most fans/bettors don't know? I like to fish and hunt. What is one word that describes harness racing for you? My life. How did you get started in the sport?  My father and my older brother had a small stable in southern Ohio part-time while they also worked in factories. I started with them. The older I got the more I did around Lebanon Raceway, like working on the backside. I would take a horse to the track and work for somebody.  Was there ever a chance that you wouldn't be involved in harness racing? No. I wanted to be a driver since I was a little kid. My mom has pictures of me from when I was 4 or 5 years old driving a stuffed horse in the living room. That was the running joke, my dad would always say that I would turn into a good driver one day. It turned into reality. Your driving journey took you from Lebanon to Northfield to The Meadows. Looking back, have you made the right moves?  Yes, I definitely think I have. The only thing is, with the casinos in Ohio, maybe I could've stuck it out there instead of coming back to Pennsylvania. At the time, coming seemed like the right move and now I love it here. I can't see myself being anywhere else.  About 12 or 13 years ago I had a chance to move east and drive. At the time I took advice from friends and family. Part of me wishes I would've taken that step and tried to make it at The Meadowlands or anywhere out there. But it didn't work out that way.  After winning your 6,000th race as a driver in 2019 you commented that you would drive about five more years before pursuing other options. Is that still the case? Not really. At the time, I really wasn't in great shape. I really needed to get myself reset. I had a lot of problems with my stomach and was drained on a daily basis for almost three years. I changed my diet, met with a nutritionist and a personal trainer, and got myself as healthy as I could. In the past I always struggled to go to the gym on a regular basis and over the last six to seven months it's been a part of my life every morning. I feel great now, better than when I was in my 20s. Just days after Northfield Park became one of the first tracks to return from COVID-19 (May 26) you suffered multiple broken ribs in an accident. Were those two months on the sidelines the longest of your life? Definitely comparable. I started my program of diet and exercise during COVID and when racing came back I was really anxious to return. Then on the first night back I was having a really good night with three winners and this freak accident happened. I've been in worse accidents and walked away, but it was just the way I landed that I ended up with nine broken ribs and two broken vertebrae in my back. I was pretty down about it at first, but I tried to look at it as positive as I could. Every day that I felt better I would do a little more. I started with walks and then incorporated exercise. I ended up losing 20 pounds. I couldn't wait to race and really committed myself to doing everything I could to succeed in racing.  That wasn't the first time you have been in an accident. Do you think people realize how much risk goes into driving a horse? I think people who have been around it have seen the damage that can happen, but I don't think everyone does. Some people respect drivers and what we do and others don't even think we deserve the $15 or $20 we get in compensation from some tracks for finishing out of the money. As many people that recognize the risk we take, there are just as many that don't even think we deserve those stipends.  You are currently third in North America with 54 wins, ahead of Dave Palone. Can you see yourself unseating him in 2021 as the top Meadows driver? I don't know. I'm really trying to be at the top of my game. My goal is to win the most races I ever have in a year. That is 448. So I'm aiming for 500 to 700 wins and trying to keep myself in the position to take on other opportunities in the spring, even on my days off. What is the best advice you've ever gotten about harness racing? An older driver once told me something and I've passed it on to some of the younger guys now. "If you drive for checks the wins will come." So often you win a couple of races and think you should keep the gas pedal down all the time, but it doesn't work like that. You end up over-driving horses. His advice always stuck with me. What was your favorite moment in harness racing? When I drove in my first Adios. It was the summer after I moved to The Meadows. Randy Bendis gave me the opportunity to drive Mega Hall, that was back when they went two heats. We got beat in the elimination by a nose to Village Jolt. Then we finished fourth in the final but he only got beat by maybe a length. I was 23 or 24 back then and it was the first time my family came from Ohio to visit. It was the biggest race I had been in at the time. Which is the best horse you've ever driven? Medusa would have to be at the top of the list. She was an iron-tough mare for years. I also had the opportunity to qualify and drive Sweet Lou twice. That was a really cool experience because I have a lot of respect for the horse. What's the one race that you most want to win in your career? Definitely the Hambletonian, but I'm not picky. Being from Ohio there is also the Little Brown Jug and of course the Adios at The Meadows. You also have 58 training wins, which horse is/was your favorite? I still have him, I'm Feelin Good. I trained him for a New York owner named Larry Fischer. Eventually I bought him for myself and after three or four years I retired him to my farm. He's my most memorable and probably the best I've had. You drove at Pompano Park on February 1 and won two races. What made you show up in Florida for a day? Paul Holzman, who I drive on and off for in Ohio and sometimes in PA. David Miller had won with Southwind Amazon but he had one of (Ron) Burke's horses and was going to have to choose off. The owners were in town and they wanted to have someone who's driven him before to give him the best opportunity to win. They made me the offer to come down for a couple of days all expenses paid and maybe get out of the cold. Unfortunately it was cold that night, like 47 degrees. The guys were teasing me saying that I was at Northfield the night before in a blizzard and I must've brought it with me. If you could choose any horse in history to drive, which horse would it be and why? Tall Dark Stranger. He's an absolutely impressive animal and so classy. I love to watch him race. If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be? I kind of go with the flow of things and don't pay a ton of attention. If there is one thing, perhaps getting rid of the long post parades. Back when I started driving there was more of a live audience, but now, especially in the winter, to keep us on the track for eight to 10 minutes before going to the gate is a bit much. Horses start grabbing on and get nervous. It can be a constant battle to keep them calm. How do you view the future of harness racing? I'm hoping that we have at least 10 more good years. We are definitely doing better on social media than ever before, but If we publicize the sport more, advertise and have promotions to draw crowds to the track, maybe that 10 years can extend much longer. Time for the stretch drive: Best Horse You Ever Saw: Niatross. I saw him when I was a kid, so it was a big deal. Best Race you ever saw: Precious Bunny winning the Jug. It was my first live Jug. Lasix -- Yes or No?: Yes, definitely. Favorite TV Show?: Anything on the ID (Investigation Discovery) channel. I like Court TV and anything with investigations. Trotters or Pacers?: Trotters for sure. They are more of a challenge and our natural breed.