Joe Amato biography

When Joe Amato was eleven years old, his dad opened an auto parts store, A&A Auto Parts, where Joe went to work and began learning what would ultimately become his prime career. Also at that time, some of his dad’s employees were racing on weekends and started taking Joe with them and it wasn’t long before he was hooked. Joe’s first car was a ’53 Ford that he started modifying shortly after he got it. When Joe was 16, his father was forced to quit working after undergoing open heart surgery and Joe made the decision to quit school and run the auto parts full time. Despite the workload of running the auto parts store, Joe found time to go racing on weekends and soon learned that the more successful he was on the track, the more business he did. By the time Joe was twenty, the auto parts store had grown to five stores. Unfortunately, at the age of 32 Joe’s dad died leaving him the job of managing an expanding business specializing in speed accessories. Ultimately, A&A Auto Parts and Keystone Automotive Warehouse became one of the most well-known and largest suppliers of parts and accessories in the automotive business.

In his early racing days, Joe raced locally starting with a variety of cars including a ’58 Pontiac, a ’32 Chevy, a ’40 Chevy and a 1948 tube-framed altered Fiat. Following this, Joe raced Alcohol Funny Cars with moderate success but in 1979 he switched to an Alcohol Dragster and notched his first NHRA National event win in Pro Comp at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, FL. He followed that win with another NHRA national event win at the 1980 LeGrandnationals-Molson in Canada and in 1981 took home three class Wally’s from NHRA national events.

1982 was Joe’s debuted year in Top Fuel and while he did not win a Wally his first year out, he did manage to place sixth in the Championship point’s race. 1983 was a much better year with Joe winning three NHRA national events and challenging Gary Beck for the Championship title. At the 1984 Gatornationals in Gainesville, FL, Joe and crew chief Tim Richards debuted a new chassis design that included a different rear wing that was mounted higher and further back than previous designs. This new designed enabled Joe to become the first Top Fuel Dragster to top the 260 mph mark along with three NHRA national events and the "Winston World Championship" that same year.

Joe continued his winning ways the next couple of years and in 1987 he made the sport’s first 280 mph run followed in 1988 with his second Winston World Championship. 1990 has to be considered Joe’s most successful year when he recorded six national event wins along with his third Winston World Championship. 1991 and 1992 didn’t see as many total events wins but he did compile an impressive total of eight more NHRA national event wins and won his fourth and fifth Winston World Championships.         

The next couple of years didn’t give Joe the success he was used to but in 1996 he hired Jimmy Prock as his new crew chief and from then through 2000 they recorded eighteen more national event titles and produced the sports first 4.5 second E.T. clocking with a 4.595 seconds run at the 1996 Western Auto Nationals in Topeka, KS. His final driving career victory in Top Fuel Dragster came when he won the Keystone Nationals in Maple Grove, PA for the second time in as many years. While Joe never experienced a serious crash, the stress of thousands of trips down the track took their toll on his eyes and he decided to retire from driving. Not wanting to leave the sport completely, Joe hired Darrell Russell to drive his Top Fuel Dragster the next year and they opened the 2001 season by winning the Auto Zone Winternationals in Pomona, CA. In 2005, Joe reluctantly made the decision to retire from the sport completely and pursue some of his other interests which include Joe Amato Properties, under which he owns two shopping centers, he is also involved in developing housing projects and owns Joe Amato’s Collectible Cars, a venue for buying and selling classic muscle cars. Joe Amato’s list of accomplishments in the sport of drag racing read like a movie script but they came only with total dedication and uncompromising work ethics by Joe. While a couple of his accomplishments have been eclipsed since his retirement, at the time of his retirement the list read as follows:

Winningest Top Fuel driver in NHRA history with 52 victories (all on standard ¼ mile/1320 foot tracks)

Only driver at that time to have won 5 NHRA Top Fuel Championships including 3 straight years

Finished in the top ten point standings 18 consecutive seasons

Named number 9 on NHRA’s list of top 50 drivers in 2001

Winner of U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, IN 3 times

Number one qualifier in Top Fuel dragster class at NHRA National Events a total of 56 times

Appeared in 99 Top Fuel finals at NHRA National Events  

Six time winner of the Budweiser Shootout

Became the fourth member of the Cragar 4-second club

Became the sixth member of the Slick 50 330 mph club

First driver to exceed 260 mph and 280 mph

Earned three NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster victories and two in Pro Comp