That Time NASCAR Cup Champ Joey Logano Got Thrown Out of Atlanta Motor Speedway

Joey Logano possesses a unique relationship with the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway: He’s won at it, lived in its trackside condominiums, and been thrown out of the facility.

Yes, thrown out of the speedway. Not because he sneaked into an event without purchasing a ticket as a teenager, but for an on-track incident.

“We came here … years ago. (Jack) Roush gave me a Cup car to do laps,” the Team Penske driver recalled Sunday night after winning the opening race in the NASCAR Cup playoffs. “This is before I signed with (Joe) Gibbs. I was 14. We would just make laps at local tracks just for fun. We’d go testing with Mark Martin. It was the coolest thing in the world.

“A friend of ours was testing a Porsche for the Rolex 24, running the road course here (Atlanta). Do you mind if we make some laps while you’re on the road course?”

The person had no objection. Logano’s family called Ed Clark, who was the speedway’s president and general manager at the time, and asked if they could make some laps. Clark, who thought they were referencing a Legends car on the facility’s quarter-mile track, granted permission.

“We unloaded a Cup car,” Logano said with a laugh. “They didn’t like that. That wasn’t too cool in their book. They gave me this lap time that I couldn’t exceed, and it was a very slow lap time. I had to run a fast corner and that’s it. I remember it was right before lunch. My dad goes, ‘Screw it, Joe. Just Go. They’re going to throw us out. I don’t care. Just go. They’re going to black flag you. Just go until it runs out of gas.’

“I did that, and we got thrown out.”

However, they didn’t get thrown out of the trackside condo where they lived most of the time when Logano raced Legends cars at the Atlanta facility.

“We had a race shop down the road from here,” Logano said. “Our Late Model was there. Jim Gresham owned our Late Model. I drove for him. His grandkid raced. Stored all our stuff there. Our house was actually in Alpharetta (Ga.), That’s an hour plus from here.”

So, since Logano and his father were at the Atlanta facility 90% of the time, they chose to live in condo No. 805. That’s where they often watched NASCAR post-race interviews on the track’s network.

“Maybe someone up there is watching right now. Kind of cool,” Logano said Sunday night after his Quaker State 400 victory.

Logano has never gone back to his old condo, knocked on the door, explained to the owner he used to live there and asked to see it, but he has thought about it.

“I feel like that’s kind of weird to do,” Logano said. “Maybe next time I’ll just do it.”

So, in February 2025 when NASCAR returns to Atlanta, the owner of condo 805 shouldn’t be surprised to hear a knock on the door and open it to find the two-time NASCAR Cup champion standing there, asking if he can take a look at his teenage home.