By Jeff Pederson
Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 6, 2021 – In his fourth full season in the cockpit of a high-powered Dirt Late Model machine, Milwaukee’s Joe Bongiorno has stepped up his game as an emerging player at the front of the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Late Model field during the 2021 season at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis.
Despite being among the youngest competitors in the PDTR Late Model ranks at just 22 years old, Bongiorno, who is employed as a steamfitter apprentice with Local 601, has already strung together an impressive resume in five different racing divisions.
“I started racing Karts at Badger Kart Club in 2009 when I was 10,” Bongiorno said. “I raced Karts until 2013 when we started racing Legend Cars at Beaver Dam. We won the Legends Car championship in 2014 at Beaver Dam Raceway, as well as the Wisconsin Dirt Legends Series championship and a INEX National Points Championship.”
After his stellar 2014 campaign in the Legends Car ranks, Bongiorno switched gears in a big way in 2015 as he transitioned from the dirt tracks to the pavement racing world.
“In 2015, we raced a Limited Late Model at Slinger,” Bongiorno said. “We had a trophy dash win, a heat race win and a few top-five finishes.”
Following his one-year stint in a pavement Limited Late Model, Bongiorno returned to his dirt track roots in 2016 in the ultra-challenging Sport Mod division, which set the table for a move up the racing ladder to the Late Model ranks.
“In 2016, we raced a Sport Mod at Beaver Dam and finished second in points, while winning the Rookie of the Year Award and Hard Charger Award,” Bongiorno said. “In 2017, we raced Sport Mod again and started running some Dirt Late Model races for Mike Formella in the Dirt Kings Tour. We got fifth in the inaugural Dirt Kings show at Oshkosh, which was really exciting for us because there were a lot of big names being there.
“After that year, Mike asked me if I wanted to join his team and build a pair of new Kryptonite Racecars for his driver Ron Stroika and I, and it was the perfect opportunity for me,” he said. “Since 2018, we’ve been racing every Plymouth and Dirt Kings race that our work schedules allows us to.”
In reflecting on his 12 years in racing, Bongiorno says one season stands head and shoulders above the rest.
“I would say the highlight of my racing career so far was the 2014 season when we won three championships and seven features with the Legends Car,” Bongiorno said.
During the 2021 season, Bongiorno has been working on building up the type of speed and consistency necessary to be a consistent front runner in the PDTR Late Model division.
With three points races remaining in the PDTR Late Model season, Bongiorno stands ninth in the point standings, despite missing two nights of action. In eight PDTR events, Bongiorno has tallied two top-five and seven top-10 A-main showings during the 2021 campaign.
“So far the 2021 season is going pretty good,” Bongiorno said. “The car has been consistently fast and I’ve gained a lot of confidence in myself and the car, and now we are able to start contending with the front runners. In our last race at Plymouth on July 24, we finished our Late Model career best of third and led a lot of laps in the beginning of the race, which felt really good.”
Bongiorno enjoys the endless challenges that racing offers and is clearly focused on attaining one major goal during the remainder of the 2021 campaign.
“My favorite part about racing is trying to figure out how to make the car go around the track faster whether that’s changing something about my driving, adjusting the car, or building the car differently,” Bongiorno said. “My goal for 2021 is to win a feature race.”
Looking ahead to his racing future, Bongiorno is hoping to have the chance to keep wheeling a Late Model, while striving to improve on a weekly basis.
“Right now, the plan is to stay focused on Plymouth and try to park it in the winner’s circle,” Bongiorno said. “We are going to do select Dirt Kings events too like Angell Park, Wilmot, Sycamore and Outagamie. You will most likely see me in a Late Model again racing for Mike Formella in 2022.”
The pit crew for Bongiorno’s Mike and Rachel Formella-owned 55B car consists of his dad, Mike Bongiorno, Joe Vitale, Chris Rice, Grandpa Ray, Dan Tafelski and Mike Formella.
The team’s sponsors are Matco Tools/Formella Enterprises, Conway Shield, C&S Transportation and Allis Automotive.
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This Saturday, Aug. 7 is Autograph Night at Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. with all fans invited to the pit area after the races to meet their favorite drivers and get a close-up view of the cars.
In addition, the first 200 kids will receive a checkered flag and backpack courtesy of Hopf Farms.
Grandstand gates open at 4:30 p.m. with hot laps at 5:30 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m.
The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds is located at 229 Fairview Drive in Plymouth, Wis. For more information, visit www.plymouthdtr.com or check out Plymouth Dirt Track Racing on Facebook.
Pedal Down Promotions is a full-service public relations and media services company devoted to helping clients effectively communicate with targeted audiences through a diverse array of promotional strategies and methods, including press releases, newsletters, profile and feature articles, website and social media content development, printed media, editing and layout, graphic design and book publishing services.
For more information on Pedal Down Promotions, email pedaldownpromotions@gmail.com, visit www.pedaldownpromotions.com or call 920-323-7970.
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