Joseph Mattioli

Joseph Mattioli (April 14, 1925 – January 26, 2012) was an American businessman. He is best known for founding and managing Pocono Raceway, a race track that has hosted NASCAR and Indy Car racing.

Mattioli was born to Joseph and Mary (Marzzacco) Mattioli. His father, Joseph Mattioli Sr. was a lightweight boxer who fought under the name Pep O'Brien. As a teenager, Mattioli worked jobs including stonemason, ice cream man, railroad worker, and factory hand.

Mattioli served in World War II in the Pacific as a Navy and Marine medic. Mattioli was in an outfit slated for the proposed US invasion of Japan before the war ended. After the war, Mattioli used the benefits from the G.I. Bill to enroll in the dentistry program at Temple University. It was there that he met Rose Nocito, a student of the podiatry program.

Joseph and Rose Mattioli had their dentistry and podiatry offices in their family home in Philadelphia. Working up to 90 hours a week in dentistry, Mattioli amassed a net worth of a million dollars within ten years. He would reflect that October 3, 1960, was the day that he reached exhaustion and became determined to reduce his workload.

Mattioli began investing in real estate, helping to create Camelback Mountain Resort, Alpine Mountain Ski & Ride Center, and the Pocono Laurel Lake community.

Mattioli was an investor in the construction of Pocono Raceway, eventually becoming the primary investor by mid-1969. Soliciting advice from NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. and Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman, Mattioli oversaw the construction of the 2.5 mile superspeedway, which opened in 1971. USAC held Indy car and stock car races beginning in 1971, NASCAR made their debut in 1974.

In 1972, the track hosted Concert 10. While 100,000 tickets were sold, over 200,000 spectators arrived. "I sat in my office with a shotgun and a German Shepherd," Mattioli later recalled. "We didn't know what the hell was going to happen. They just kept coming."

In 1979, Indy car racing split into two feuding groups of USAC and CART. Pocono Raceway had a contract to remain with USAC. The 1979 Pocono 500 was run with limited cars amidst a CART boycott of the event.