Joe, Rose Mattioli inducted into EMPA Hall of Fame

Doctors Joe and Rose Mattioli of Pocono Raceway were inducted into the Eastern Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame Saturday night.

The Mattiolis have guided the raceway since its first race, in the early 1970s.

"It's not often I'm surprised and humbled," Mattioli, chairman of the raceway, said at the Radisson Hotel in Trevose.

Among the other inductees into the EMPA Hall of Fame was Harry Blaze, the late auto racing writer for the Trenton Times.

Blaze died last year. Blaze's widow, Alles, accepted the award.

James Hylton, the 72-year-old NASCAR veteran who is attempting to qualify for next month's Daytona 500, received the Junie Donlavey Spirit Award.

Marco Andretti accepted the T. Wayne Robertson Newsmaker of the Year Award earlier Saturday. Andretti was the Indy Racing League's Rookie of the Year.

Also honored were longtime EMPA president Ernie Saxton and his wife, Marilyn, for their devotion to the organization. *

- Bill Fleischman