You can bet that plenty of NASCAR drivers are binge-watching the new, second season of Full Speed, the Netflix docuseries that goes behind the scenes of last year’s Cup Series playoffs. (How else to see how much camera time they scored and how many times their hot-mike comments had to be bleeped?) Joey Logano is likely reliving the story arc with extra appreciation, given that it ends—spoiler alert!—with him as the 2024 champion. When not racing, Logano parks his huge, shiny trophy in the Charlotte area and relishes the same sort of hangouts and activities as much slower humans do. Here, he circles the town the way he circles a track to share some of his favorites.
BREAKFAST
I’m not home much on weekends, but in the off-season it’s nice to take the kids to Famous Toastery in downtown Davidson for brunch after church. It’s got an old-school diner vibe—not the shiny kind, but that small-town, little breakfast place feeling, and it has good, good food. I try to eat healthy, but I tend to order the same thing for breakfast, usually an omelet with sausage and cheese, maybe some onions and peppers. Hashbrowns on the side. I keep breakfast pretty simple.
BARBECUE JOINT
Lancaster’s in Mooresville is maybe a little nicer than a joint, but the barbecue is lights-out fantastic. This area is the NASCAR capital of the world, right? So it has a full-on NASCAR nostalgia theme, mostly from the Days of Thunder era, if you’ve seen that movie. There are signs and helmets and uniforms, dozens of actual race-car hoods on the walls, even a couple of cars sort of hanging from the ceiling. There are big TVs, too, so it’s a good place to watch a race while you eat. NASCAR and barbecue seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly.
LIVE MUSIC
I have to go with Coyote Joe’s, a country-music venue near the airport in Charlotte that’s been around forever. It’s a big place—they can put a few thousand people in there for a show. Everybody has played there. They bring in some big names, like Luke Combs and Hardy. My foundation that supports the foster-care system does an annual charity concert there, and we’ve had Jordan Davis and Tracy Lawrence as headliners.
KID STUFF
Oh man, my kids love the Urban Air Adventure Park in Mint Hill, so we spend plenty of time jumping around on the indoor trampoline. Adults like it, too. There’s an awesome dodgeball area with trampolines, and you just sort of form teams as you go along. It’s a good time, but the competitive vibes do get going.
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Two things I love are going out on the lake, and driving four-wheelers. I’m not a big fisherman, but I like watersports, and on a nice day, Lake Norman can’t be beat for tubing and riding Jet Skis around. And if you like four-wheeling, there are plenty of opportunities and trails around here. Sometimes we go down the road about an hour, between Charlotte and Columbia, South Carolina, to Carolina Adventure World. It’s like a big off-roading playground with 120 miles of trails, a mud bog, and even an oval track.
