Joey Atanasio is a racing driver who last raced in Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin for Formidable Racing. Atanasio has recorded 0 wins and 3 podiums from 19 starts.[1]
A Racer Rating of 3,274 ranks Atanasio 4654th of 17,494 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the low five figures. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file, decayed for time since their last race.
| 2022-09-30 | Road Atlanta · ND2 | P3 | +129 |
| 2022-09-29 | Road Atlanta · ND2 | P7 | +85 |
| 2022-08-28 | VIRginia International Raceway · ND2 | P26 | −153 |
| 2022-08-27 | VIRginia International Raceway · ND2 | P26 | −142 |
| 2022-07-03 | Road America · ND2 | P19 | −70 |
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | DNFs | Poles | Points | Pos | Gain/Loss | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ▸Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | Formidable Racing | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P8 | +569 | 3,462 |
| 2021 | ▸Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | Provision Motorsports LLC | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P27 | ↑909−82 | 2,893 |
| 2019 | ▸SKUSA SuperNationals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | +66 | 2,066 |
| Rival | Rating | Raced | Ahead | Behind | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Aaron JeansonneFIA SILVER | 4,894 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 44% |
| 🇺🇸 Jared ThomasFIA SILVER | 4,297 | 18 | 4 | 14 | 22% |
| 🇺🇸 Sam PaleyFIA SILVER | 4,250 | 18 | 7 | 11 | 39% |
| 🇺🇸 Gresham WagnerFIA SILVER | 4,235 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 28% |
| 🏳️ Selin Rollan | 3,999 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 28% |
| 🇺🇸 Justin PiscitellFIA SILVER | 3,996 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 44% |
| 🇺🇸 David StaabFIA BRONZE | 3,992 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 61% |
| 🇺🇸 Jenson AltzmanFIA SILVER | 3,765 | 18 | 12 | 6 | 67% |
| 🇺🇸 Alex BachouraFIA BRONZE | 3,340 | 18 | 13 | 5 | 72% |
| 🏳️ Chris Nunes | 3,315 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 44% |
| 🇮🇹 Andrea Kimi AntonelliFIA PLATINUM · 3× CHAMPION | 8,967 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100% |
| 🇲🇽 Noel LeonHIGHER-RATED · 1× CHAMPION | 6,255 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100% |
| 🇧🇧 Kyffin SimpsonFIA GOLD · 1× CHAMPION | 6,011 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100% |
| # | Driver | Series | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4,644 | 🇺🇸 Lucas Weisenberg | IMSA Pilot Challenge | 3,278 |
| 4,645 | 🇺🇸 Michael Lewis | SCCA Runoffs | 3,278 |
| 4,646 | 🇪🇸 Aleix Piñera | Spanish F4 | 3,276 |
| 4,647 | 🏳️ Ed Zabinski | Star Mazda Championship | 3,276 |
| 4,648 | 🇫🇮 Emma Kimiläinen | W Series | 3,276 |
| 4,649 | 🏳️ Gavin Vaughan | SCCA Majors | 3,276 |
| 4,650 | 🏳️ Jordan Bupp | Trans-Am | 3,276 |
| 4,651 | 🇺🇸 Phil Fogg Jr. | Trans-Am | 3,276 |
| 4,652 | 🇨🇦 Roman Senna De Angelis | Bathurst 12 Hour | 3,275 |
| 4,653 | 🏳️ Alexander Imperatori | WEC | 3,274 |
| 4,654 | 🏳️ Joey Atanasio | Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | 3,274 |
| 4,655 | 🏳️ Scott Tucker | WEC | 3,274 |
| 4,656 | 🇷🇺 Ilya Morozov | Italian F4 | 3,273 |
| 4,657 | 🇬🇧 Jay Bridger | British GT Championship | 3,273 |
| 4,658 | 🇯🇵 Nobuya Yamanaka | WEC | 3,273 |
| 4,659 | 🇧🇷 Raphael Reis | IMSA Pilot Challenge | 3,273 |
| 4,660 | 🇩🇪 Christian Menzel | Nürburgring 24 Hours | 3,272 |
| 4,661 | 🇸🇰 Matej Konopka | WEC | 3,272 |
| 4,662 | 🏳️ Tim Viens | NASCAR Xfinity Series | 3,272 |
| 4,663 | 🇺🇸 David Murry | IMSA Prototype Challenge | 3,271 |
| 4,664 | 🇨🇦 Jensen Burnett | Spanish F4 | 3,271 |
Joey Atanasio is a semi-professional driver, a level indicating competitive success in pro-am and one-make racing rather than a full-time seat at the top. His Racer Rating of 3,274 places him in that tier. Atanasio raced exclusively in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin, a single-model series, across two seasons from 2021 to 2022, accumulating 18 starts with three podium finishes and no wins. He spent most of his time with Formidable Racing, which fielded him in 14 of those races. A single SKUSA SuperNationals karting entry in 2019 preceded his road racing debut. He finished his final season, 2022, eighth in the MX-5 Cup standings with three podiums across 14 rounds, an average finishing position of P8 in a series where he proved consistently competitive but not dominant.[1]
Atanasio's record against his regular rivals tells a consistent story of a mid-field operator among semi-professional and professional drivers. His head-to-head record against the most frequent rivals shows him typically outpaced: he finished behind Aaron Jeansonne 10 times to 8 ahead, behind Jared Thomas 14 times to 4 ahead, and behind both Gresham Wagner and Sam Paley by similar margins in 18 shared races each. Thomas, who won the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup championship three years running (2022, 2023, 2024), was notably faster across the board. Several stronger drivers passed through the series briefly; Atanasio finished ahead of Connor Zilisch, an FIA Gold driver and 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, on six occasions out of unspecified shared races, a notable result against a driver of that calibre, though Zilisch was likely racing part-time at that level.
Atanasio retired after 2022 with 19 total race starts across his recorded career. His 3,274 rating reflects a driver who won regularly against slower competition but could not close the gap to the series' front-runners or the stronger professional drivers passing through the MX-5 Cup field.