John Bommarito is a master negotiator, businessman, and dreamer. Under his leadership, the world saw the Bommarito Automotive Group rise to the top, bring World Class Racing back to the St Louis Region, and the creation of two NASCAR teams.
John’s days started out modest. His family valued a hard and continuous work ethic and made sure that John had his fair share of hard work. At the age of 12 and after school, John would go and work at the family company—the Bommarito Automotive Group.
For about three years, John would wash the cars and park them. Then, at 15, he was promoted to the service and parts department where he could learn the backbone of the family business.
Even at a young age, he excelled in both his classes and his duties at work. He ended up graduating High School in the top two percent of his class with many scholarships to choose from.
He decided to pursue a degree in the psychology and Pre Medical field at Eckerd College. Again, he excelled and graduated with honors. He was even accepted into Stanford University Medical School, but John decided to take a break from the academic path.
He returned to the family business only to be protected time and time again for his excellence and record-breaking sales.
John grew a reputation in the automotive world as the man who can get things done. His reputation was so widespread that General Motors approached him with his own deal in 1992.
General Motors had an Oldsmobile-Cadillac store that was only selling 25 units a month and was heading for bankruptcy. But, John saw the potential that the store had and even financed it with his own savings.
Through some negotiation, he was able to get Mazda added to the lineup which helped boost the store’s popularity.
The store is so successful, that Mazda awarded the prestigious award—the President’s Club award—which recognizes the top 40 dealerships nationwide.
John went on to add a lot more dealerships and brands to the Bommarito Automotive Group and skyrocketed the company to become Missouri’s #1 choice for consumers and all of their automotive needs.
Always having a passion for racing, he then decided to turn his energy to a new world—NASCAR. In 2017, he formed a friendship with CEO and Gateway Motorsports Park Owner Curtis Francois. After some negotiation, an agreement was met, and a historic INDYCAR series event was announced with the Bommarito Automotive Group as the title sponsor.
The event brought the best from the Indianapolis 500 along with competitors from all over the world including France, Spain, New Zealand, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Colombia, and more.
As if that wasn’t enough, John partnered with race car driver Jordan Anderson and started two teams—a NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series team and the #31 Bommarito Chevrolet Xfinity team.
The #31 Bommarito Chevrolet Xfinity team went on to finish in the top 10 in their debut at the famed Circuit of the Americas road course.
In order to ramp up the hype of the Bommarito 500 event each year, John started his “Audience Enhancement Program.” Thanks to his efforts, the event grew to become the third largest attended race in the Indycar series.
For his leadership and outstanding success, he was also nominated and appointed to be one of the Directors of the St. Louis Sports Commission.
All in all, thanks to the efforts of John Bommarito, the Bommarito Automotive Group rose to unprecedented levels of success. He also greatly influenced the NASCAR world by not only creating two NASCAR teams but also starting the well-attended INDYCAR series event. Most recently in 2022, eventually working with partner and owner of WWT Raceway Curtis Francois to bring Nascar cup Series, as well, to his very own home town.
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