Mario Fats Caruso began racing in 1949, with his brothers Tony and Funzie, and close friends Al Mattress and Vince Abdella. The teams first car was a Class B Ford sedan. After cutting his racing teeth with this car, Frank White offered Caruso a ride in his Circle 2, a cut down, which he drove to many feature wins, and eventually the NEARA championship.
Fats had made a name for himself locally, at tracks like Seekonk, Thompson, Westboro, and Norwood. When he got the ride in the #69 coupe, sponsored by Worcester Sand and Gravel, his career really started to take off. He began competing at tracks like Old Bridge and Trenton in New Jersey, Utica-Rome and Oswego in New York and Dover and Hudson in New Hampshire. Caruso was a consistent top five finisher, and a regular threat to win wherever he competed.
In the later stages of his career, Fats competed in the familys SK modified at the Thompson and Stafford Speedways. It was in the Bill Ross owned modified that Caruso took down his last feature win, in the 1984 Thompson 300. Although he retired at the end of the 1984 season, Fats was persuaded to come back to compete against his son, David, in the 1989, 90, and 91 World Series races at Thompson.
Mario �Fats� Caruso passed away in October of 1993, after a battle with cancer.
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