Joey Logano has an autoimmune disease that attacks hair follicles, and hes being up front about t

LAS VEGAS — Three weeks ago, Joey Logano returned home from a haircut to a surprised reaction from his wife, Brittany.

What did they do to the back of your head?

Suddenly, Joey realized there were patchy spots on the back of his head where chunks of hair were missing. Though he initially shrugged it off as a haircut gone horribly wrong, he grew alarmed when the hair hadn’t started to regrow back two weeks later.

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After seeing a doctor and undergoing tests, Logano learned the reason for his spotty hair loss: Alopecia Areata, a common autoimmune disease that attacks a person’s hair follicles.

Logano’s health is not at risk and he is fine physically, he said; it’s just that his hair is falling out in some areas. While not ideal — particularly for a race car driver who is in the public spotlight — Logano is keeping it in perspective.

“It could be way worse, but I just wanted to say something before anyone assumed it was something else,” said Logano, who reached out to The Athletic to tell his story. “If you’re a kid in school or if you’re a woman, it’s probably even harder to deal with something like this. For me, I’m OK with it. But I don’t have high school kids making fun of me either, and I’m old enough and have been through enough where I can handle it. I just want to give support to people dealing with the same thing.”

When the hair initially didn’t grow back and continued to look like a haircut hack job, Logano did what most people would do: Google the condition, then get freaked out about a worst-case scenario for his health.

“It takes you down this wormhole and the next thing you think is, ‘Oh my God, I’m dying,’” he said.

But that wasn’t the case. Alopecia Areata is estimated to affect 6.8 million people in the United States, and Logano just happens to be one of them.

“I was losing my hair anyway,” he joked about the thinning hair at the front of his head. “It’s just going to be in different spots than I thought.”

The 29-year-old thought about shaving his head to hide the condition, but realized he could better support others by using his platform to be honest about it. By coincidence, September is Alopecia Areata Awareness Month.

Logano decided to go through his rounds at Thursday’s NASCAR Playoffs Media Day in Las Vegas without a hat — as is customary for drivers — because there’s no use hiding it at this point. Though a person’s hair follicles are still alive and the hair could regrow, it also could continue to fall out and look patchier than it does now.

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“It’s fairly obvious, and it will become more obvious, most likely,” Logano said. “It’s funny no one is comfortable enough asking about it, which is kind of weird to me. I’m the kind of person who would see something and be like, ‘Hey man, you OK?’ Some people don’t say a word about it, but I know they’re looking. That’s why I decided to do this, because it’s obvious people are staring.”

Logano said he’s not embarrassed about having Alopecia Areata and hopes others with the condition can feel the same if they know a NASCAR champion is going through the same thing.

“Everybody has something they battle with health-wise, one way or the other,” Logano said. “No matter what it is, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. God is going to give you challenges to deal with, and that’s what tests your character.

“It’s no different than the pressure you deal with in the playoffs. It’s just something in life I’ll have to deal with as well.”

Logano, who often looks for the silver lining in any situation regardless of the circumstances, was able to make some cracks about his situation.

“I didn’t want everyone to think, ‘Wow, Joey doesn’t know where to get a good haircut,’” he said with a laugh. “The good thing is it’s the back of my head, so I can’t see it anyway.”

(Photo by Brian Lawdermilk / Getty Images)

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