Joe Sostilio (January 3, 1915 – July 9, 2000) was a Hall of Fame auto racing driver from

Natick, Massachusetts Natick ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 37,006 at the 2020 census. west of Boston, Natick is part of the Greater Boston area. ...

. He was born in

Newton Centre, Massachusetts Newton Centre is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The main commercial center of Newton Centre is a triangular area surrounding the intersections of Beacon Street, Centre St ...

, and Summered on Cape Cod in Pocasset, Massachusetts. Sostilio was a prominent

midget Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a medical term like "dwarfism", a medical condition with a number of ca ...

and stockcar driver. In 1932, at the age of 17, Sostilio won the first race he ever entered, driving a Model A Ford. By 1935, Sostilio had added a championship to his resume by capturing the New England Dirt Championship. He repeated as champion in 1936 and 1938. He captured the 1939 Vermont State Midget Championship. In 1941, Joe finished fourth in the first Midget race at the

Williams Grove Speedway Williams Grove Speedway is a half-mile automobile dirt racing track located in Mechanicsburg , Pennsylvania, USA. The speedway opened on May 21, 1939, it has been owned by the Hughes family for over 50 years and has hosted many of the most nota ...

. Joe interrupted his racing career to serve his country (1941–1944) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. When the war ended, Joe returned to the Midget ranks with the Bay State Midget Racing Association, losing the championship to Bob Blair by one point. In 1946, he piloted the Koopman

Offenhauser The Offenhauser Racing Engine, or Offy, is a racing engine design that dominated American open wheel racing for more than 50 years and is still popular among vintage sprint and midget car racers. History The Offenhauser engine, familiarly ...

and finished 4th in BSMRA points, competing at tracks from

Seekonk, Massachusetts Seekonk is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Massachusetts border with Rhode Island. It was incorporated in 1812 from the western half of Rehoboth. The population was 15,531 at the 2020 census. Until 1862, the town o ...

, to

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

. In 1947, Sostilio piloted the #54 Leader Card Offy to claim the Bay State Midget title on the strength of 31 wins, 23 seconds and 12 third-place finishes. Notable victories from that season include the first-ever race at

Westboro Speedway Westboro Speedway, also known as Westboro Sports Stadium, was a banked and paved oval race track located in Westborough, Massachusetts, that operated from 1947 through 1985. It featured various types of racing including Supermodified racing, supe ...

near

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, and another win during the inaugural season of the

Lonsdale Sports Arena Lonsdale Sports Arena was a high-banked paved oval race track located north of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on Mendon Road (Rhode Island Route 122) in Cumberland, Rhode Island, on the banks of the Blackstone River. Ironically, its location near th ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. In 1948, Sostilio finished sixth in United Car Owners Association points, driving for the MacLeod Racing Team with fellow Hall of Famer,

Johnny Thomson John A. Thomson (April 9, 1922 – September 24, 1960) was an American racecar driver. Thomson was nicknamed "the Flying Scot." He won several championships in midgets and sprint cars before competing in Championship Car (now IndyCar) racing. H ...

. In 1949, Sostilio turned his focus to Stock Car racing, traveling from New England to

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United S ...

, for three consecutive weeks and claiming the trophy each time. In

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competition, Sostilio won seven races between 1948 and 1950 at tracks all over the country:

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectator ...

, Akron, Ohio;

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, and

Heidelberg, Pennsylvania Heidelberg is a borough located southwest of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2020 census. The borough was named after Heidelberg in Germany, the native home of a large share of the ea ...

. Sostilio also became a frequent competitor in the California winter circuits during this time as well. In the early 1950s, Joe competed in the AAA Big Cars alongside his teammate,

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

winner

Johnnie Parsons Johnnie Woodrow Parsons'' The Talk of Gasoline Alley'' – 1070-AM WIBC, May 15, 2007 (July 4, 1918 – September 8, 1984) was an American race car driver from Los Angeles, California who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1950. During his racing care ...

. Joe beat fellow Hall of Famer

Tommy Hinnershitz Thomas Paul Hinnershitz (April 6, 1912 – August 1, 1999) was an American race car driver. Hinnershitz was active through the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s on dirt, asphalt and boards, driving "Big Cars" (later Sprint Cars), at that time slightly s ...

to win the 1953 AAA Eastern Sprint Car Championship. That title run was bookended by efforts of 5th in 1952 and 6th in 1954. His career-best finish on the AAA/Champ Car circuit was a pair of 7th-place efforts at

Langhorne Speedway Langhorne Speedway was an automobile racetrack in Middletown Township, Bucks County, near the borough of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Philadelphia. According to the book ''Langhorne! No Man's Land'' by L. Spencer Riggs: "With a ...

and

Darlington Speedway Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located in Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is ...

in 1954. Joe died on July 9, 2000, at the age of 85.

Awards

2003 saw Sostilio become a Hall of Fame member when he was inducted into two Halls-of-Fame, with the

New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame The New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for racing-related people in the New England region of the United States. NEAR was established in 1981. The New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame was established in 1998 by the New England ...

and the

National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame The National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame is an American Hall of Fame and museum for midget cars. The Hall of Fame is located at Angell Park Speedway Angell Park Speedway has a 1/3 mile () dirt racetrack located in Sun Prairie, Wiscons ...

honoring his achievements. He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2011. In 2021, Joe was honored at the New England Racing Museums Legends Day event.

References

External links

Biography
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sostilio, Joe 1915 births 2000 deaths American military personnel of World War II National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees People from Natick, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Newton, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Middlesex County, Massachusetts Racing drivers from Massachusetts AAA Championship Car drivers