"I learned it was better to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond," said Ranger, who has led Pompano Park's driver colony in victories each of the last three seasons. "I don't do well in high stress situations. I learned that the hard way. Most of my lessons I've learned in hindsight in trial and error. Along with having an aggressive attitude in my younger days, I thought I knew everything. I found out in my 30s and 40s that I didn't know so much."

In addition to driving, Ranger spends time training a stable of horses.

"It's very time consuming, but you get out of it what you put into it," Ranger said. "If you want to slack, you don't do very well. I've come up with some real solid owners and they pretty much let me do my job. If they don't do well, they take it on the chin and move on; they're not second-guessing me. I'm the first one to know when I drove badly, and they do a good job not reminding me the next day."

Ranger, who also won driving titles at Rockingham Park and Plainridge Racecourse in recent years, plans to race for as long as possible, but is not anxious to travel much anymore.

"I've got a lot of respect for the guys that drive 2,000 or 3,000 races a year," Ranger said. "I don't know how they do it and stay sharp. That always impresses me. But that's just not me. Fortunately, I'm at the point now where I don't have to do it.

"I'm going to keep racing until I can't. I've been pondering backing down for years and haven't done it yet. Hopefully, I'll be smart enough to let the younger guys do it when the time comes. I hope I know when to hand it over to somebody else."

At least now, Ranger is enjoying the experience.

"I've learned to be grateful and appreciate things," he said. "I didn't enjoy the ride as much as I should have. It's a big world out there outside of harness racing. I've had years when my life was consumed by winning driving or training titles. It doesn't make you a better person. Harness racing is where I make my living. I'm very blessed to be able to do that, and I leave it at that."

Bruce Ranger's Career Statistics through 2007
Year     Starts    Wins/2nds/3rds       Earnings       UDRS
2007      1717      408      310      237      $2,419,292      0.384
2006      1623      418      290      222      $1,842,549      0.402 
2005      1464      384      266      179      $1,629,189      0.404 
2004      2260      569      391      296      $2,415,036      0.392
2003      2173      470      373      277      $2,122,057      0.354 
2002      1551      398      263      190      $1,740,493      0.392 
2001      1554      324      236      188      $1,400,664      0.333 
2000      1273      324      226      158      $1,301,653      0.395
1999      1722      458      319      221      $1,560,389      0.412
1998      1837      475      342      245      $1,464,893      0.406
1997      1358      301      226      199      $901,821         0.363 
1996      1187      239      206      169      $903,178         0.345
1995        767      136      139        96      $611,248         0.320
1994        634      118      109        63      $370,368         0.315
1993        965      158      144      115      $493,459         0.286
1992        981      162      149      118      $483,946         0.290
1991      1094      129      126      129      $453,247         0.221
1990        802      106       92       109      $477,326         0.241
1989        972      137      140      145      $723,112         0.271
1988      1094      134      144      151      $508,856         0.242
1987      1414      226      212      199      $357,440         0.290
1986        821      133       81        88      $264,470         0.253
1985      1180      168      187      151      $512,294         0.273
1984        870      139       86      116      $374,743          0.259
1983      1236      176      181      155      $404,428         0.266
1982      1093      169      166      165      $368,828         0.289
1981        615       92        89      104      $156,157         0.286
1980        479       74        73        74      $93,327          0.291
1979          87       22        18        13      $30,479          0.418 
Total                7,079                          $26,568,201