Joe Amato (dragster driver)

Did You Know?

• Amato dropped out of high school to help run his family's auto parts store when his father had serious heart problems.
• He built the family business into Keystone Automotive, a large automotive wholesaler and distributor.

Racing career

Joe Amato was a consistent top-ten finisher in NHRA Top Fuel from 1982 through 2000. He claimed his first win in that class in Montreal in 1983, and his last came in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 2000. Forced out of the driver’s seat by eye surgery at the end of that season, he stayed on as a team owner until selling the operation and stepping away for good in 2005. After Amato stopped driving, Darrell Russell took over the dragster from the 2001 Winter Nationals until his fatal crash at the 2004 Sears Craftsman Nationals in St. Louis. Morgan Lucas then handled the car for the rest of 2004 and all of 2005. The NHRA ranked Amato ninth on its list of the top 50 drivers from 1951 to 2000. His five Top Fuel championships stood as a record until Tony Schumacher won his sixth in 2008. In 2019, Amato took part in the 50th Gatornationals’ Unfinished Business series, where eight NHRA legends raced identical street-legal Toyota Camrys painted to mimic classic car designs. He lost in the semifinals. Amato now splits his time between homes in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, and West Palm Beach, Florida, and has been married three times. His corporate office is in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.