Joe Amato (dragster driver)
Joe Amato, born June 13, 1944, is an American drag racer who won five NHRA Top Fuel championships and 52 event races. He was the first driver to go faster than 260 mph and 280 mph in competition.
Amato grew up in Exeter, Pennsylvania. He worked in his family's auto parts store and helped build Keystone Automotive into a large automotive wholesaler.
From 1982 to 2000, Amato finished in the NHRA Top 10 every year. His first Top Fuel win came in Montreal in 1983, and his last win was in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 2000. Eye surgery forced him to retire from driving after the 2000 season, and he later ran the team until selling it in 2005.
Darrell Russell drove Amato's dragster from 2001 until Russell’s death in 2004; Morgan Lucas drove in 2004–2005. Amato ranked No. 9 on the NHRA Top 50 Drivers list (1951–2000). He has lived in Pennsylvania and Florida and has been married three times. His corporate office is in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
In 2008, Tony Schumacher surpassed Amato by winning his sixth Top Fuel title. In 2019, Amato took part in the 50th Gatornationals in a special “Unfinished Business” series, driving a street-legal Toyota Camry styled after the racers; he reached the semifinals.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:52 (CET).