Residence: Brooks, GA

Birthdate: November 1, 1972

Wife: Brandi

Children: Christopher and Emily

Joey Clanton began his racing career at birth. Son of legendary dirt track racer and hero, Billy Clanton, Joey has been at racetracks and working on cars since he can remember. Some of his earliest memories are being too young to enter the pit area of some tracks, and having to stay home on race day. He made up his mind shortly thereafter, that he wanted to be involved in racing for the rest of his life. Pretty lofty goals for a young boy. However, Joey has since dedicated his life to realizing his childhood dream, the dream of one day becoming a NASCAR Winston Cup driver.

Joey’s first began driving a racecar at the age of sixteen on the local dirt tracks of Georgia and Alabama. In 1992, he began competing in the Late Model Stock Car class at the local asphalt tracks. With experience in the Late Model Stock class, Joey decided to make the move to the Super Late Model class during the 1994 season. In his first year of Super Late Model racing, Joey won the Memorial Day 100 at Senoia Raceway in Senoia, Georgia and had several top-five finishes. In the 1996 season, Joey brought home second place in season points, along with six wins and nineteen top-five finishes. That same season, he also achieved two top-five finishes in the Southern All Star Series. For the next two years, Joey traveled to various tracks throughout the Southeast, winning two races per year in the Southern All Star Series. In his first opportunity to race at the prestigious Snow Ball Derby held each year in Pensacola, Florida, Joey brought home an impressive top-ten finish.

While honing his racing skills in these early years, Joey was also pursuing his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech. After graduating in 1999 from college, Joey jumped behind the wheel of a Legends car and raced at some prestigious Southeast tracks, including Atlanta Motor Speedway and Lowe’s Motor Speedway. In 1999, Joey claimed victory 17 times, finished in the top-five 22 out of 24 starts and called the season a success!

In the year 2000, Joey made his rookie debut in the American Speed Association (ASA) ACDelco Series. Joey drove the Steve Dale Motorsports #83 car for owner Steve Dale. Joey and rookie team, captured their first win at Memphis Motorsports Park in September and went on to procure the prestigious Pat Schauer Rookie of the Year honors.

In 2001, Joey and the Steve Dale Motorsports #83 earned third place in the points standings. Capturing three victories throughout the year at St. Augustine Speedway, South Boston Speedway, and Winchester Speedway. Joey led 944 laps and earned 16 top-ten finishes out of a 20-event season. Two outstanding accomplishments for the 2001 season were leading all 300 laps from start to finish at South Boston Speedway and winning the prestigious Winchester 400.

Joey and the Steve Dale Motorsports team had an unforgettable 2002 season. Joey and the #83 team captured the 2002 National Championship title by the closest margin in ASA history, only one point. However, the year started to look bleak in January by moving to a new shop, hiring and training an entirely new pit crew, and bringing on a new sponsor, Campfire USA. The racing community even cast doubt on the #83 team being competitive. But the year ended in the record books. Joey ended the season with nine wins; five came consecutively in the opening events to start the year, also setting a new record. He earned five poles and led a series-high 2,077 laps. His lap completion ratio was 97.67%, tying for the best in the series.

Joey set his sights set on running in the NASCAR Busch Series in 2003.  He ran the #27 Brewco Motorsports Pontiac.  Joey made 18 starts in the series.  With only completing half the season, Joey finished third in Rookie honors and had a best finish of 5^th at Pike’s Peak Speedway.