Joe Amato (dragster driver)

Joe Amato (born June 13, 1944) is an American dragster driver, who won the National Hot Rod Association's Top Fuel championship five occasions and scored 52 event victories, most of them with crew chief Tim Richards.

He began racing cars as a teenager, when he worked at his family's auto parts store.

On the National Hot Rod Association Top 50 Drivers, 1951–2000, Joe Amato was ranked No.

[1] He currently resides in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania (Glenmaura, Montage Mountain) and West Palm Beach, Florida.

[2] In 2019, Amato participated in the 50th Gatornationals in a special series, Unfinished Business, where eight NHRA legends were paired up in identical street-legal Toyota Camry sedans wrapped to resemble classic liveries of the racers.

Amato relaxing in his pit area as an owner at the 2001 Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Georgia , 2001
Joe Amato
Amato after winning the 1979 Gatornationals
Amato dragster doing a burnout at the Mile High Nationals in the Denver