Joe Mondello
Joe Mondello participated in the sport of drag racing and all forms of racing as very few of his peers have done. He was a driver, an engine builder, crew chief, manufacturer, inventor, designer, and professor during his involvement in the sport. In 1966 and 1967, Joe teamed up with Sush Matsubara in an injected gas and fuel A/Altered coupe and promptly won back to back IHRA Comp Eliminator titles. In 1968 through 1970, still teamed up with Matsubara, they switch to a blown AA/Fuel altered Fiat coupe, setting a new class record at the 1969 Indy Nationals with an ET of 7.25 seconds at 213 MPH. The record lasted until the class was drop by NHRA some 10 years later. In 1968 Joe was named Car Craft Magazine All-Star Team Engine Builder of the Year and in 1969 and won the All-Star team Crew Chief of the Year Award. In 1969 Joe also drove a factory backed Oldsmobile to two NHRA class records and in 1972 set a new SS/JA national record at 11.47 seconds and 119.53 MPH and won Super Stock class at the Pomona Winternationals.
In 1996 Joe was inducted into the Hot Rod Magazine Hall of Fame, and in 1997 he received Super Flow Corporations Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2002 Joe was inducted into the Bonneville Dry Lakes Hall of Fame and in 2004 he was inducted into the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion Hall of Fame.
As a manufacturer, Joe made the name Mondello synonymous with quality and performance. He opened the doors on his first head porting shop in 1959, and in 1969 he became the first head reporting service to offer his wares via mail order. Next, he created the open chamber big block Chevrolet combustion chamber and piston combination even before General Motors did. His positive flow combustion chamber design is now being used by everyone in the business from the OEM factories to all of the aftermarket cylinder head manufacturers. Joe designed, built, and delivered cylinder heads for countless record holding engines that have competed everywhere from the dry lakes, Bonneville, boat racing, circle track racing, drag racing, off-road racing, motorcycles and even go carts.
In 1996, Joe founded the Mondello Technical School that instructed students on everything from cylinder head design and porting techniques to engine blueprinting. These classes are not limited to “big automobile engines” either; there is even a special course of building smaller Harley Davidson and other four and five valve import motorcycle engines. The school grew rapidly in size and structure that Joe relocated to an expanded facility in Crossville, Tennessee. If this wasn’t enough Joe developed a line of new high-performance machining and lubricating products for the aftermarket. With this all going on Joe still found time to participate in the occasional nostalgia event at the wheel of a restored 1972 442 Oldsmobile or his fully restored 1903 Oldsmobile curve – horseless carriage.