Southern Raceway
Joiner tops Wilson, wins Southern's 2013 opener
By Jonathan Joiner
DirtonDirt.com correspondent
Joseph Joiner claimed $1,500 at Southern Raceway's season opener.
MILTON, Fla. (March 2) — Hometown driver Joseph Joiner started the 2013 season much like he ended 2012 with a visit to victory lane Saturday night at Southern Raceway. Joiner, who won the 3/8-mile oval’s season-ending Southern Fall Classic in November, kicked off 2013 with a convincing victory and earned $1,500 for winning the track’s season-opening Winternationals event.
In a race that was delayed two weeks by rain, Joiner started from the pole and survived an early back-and-forth battle with fellow front-row starter Frank Wilson of Harold, Fla., before pulling away in the late stages of the event, which served as the inaugural race in the track’s new 12-race Southern Super Late Model miniseries.
“This is a great way to get the season started,” said Joiner, who failed to finish in each of his previous four starts in Southern’s annual Winternationals event. “We always seem to have bad luck at these races, so coming out of here with a win helps get the year rolling in the right direction.”
The win wasn’t easy for Joiner, however, as Wilson refused to go down without a fight and pressured the 19-year-old driver early in the event. From the start, the two former track champions battled hard as they ran side by side during the race’s opening circuit and crossed the start-finish line in a dead heat before Joiner pulled ahead exiting turn four on lap two.
Wilson responded by driving hard into turn three the following lap and pulled ahead of Joiner exiting turn four after the two drivers made heavy contact.
Joiner nearly spun during the altercation, but he recomposed himself, caught Wilson, and returned the favor on lap nine. Diving low into turn one, Joiner threw a slidejob on Wilson and regained the lead after contact forced Wilson high in turn two.
Joiner didn’t see anything wrong with his bold move, but he admitted that the earlier contact from Wilson factored into the situation.
“I wouldn’t necessarily call it payback,” said Joiner, “I just wanted to make sure he knew I didn’t appreciate him racing like that on lap three of a 25-lap race.”
Joiner still had work to do to secure the win, with Southern Raceway’s double-file restarts requiring the race leader to choose a lane and the second-place car to start even with the leader in the other lane.
Joiner elected to start in the high groove following a lap-11 caution for a spin by Dillon Ussery of Cottondale, Fla., and lost the lead momentarily as contact with Wilson sent him into the front-straightaway wall. But Joiner survived the brush with the concrete and used a strong run off the high side of turn two to duck under Wilson down the back straightway and regain the lead.
A restart on lap 14 following a caution for a spin by James Ussery saw Joiner once again select the top groove for the restart. But this time Joiner went extremely high as he restarted from the very top of the racetrack. The move paid off as Joiner powered into turn one a full three car lengths ahead of Wilson and amassed a straightaway lead over the event’s final 10 laps.
Wilson was forced to settle for second and fend off a charge from Kody Barber of Boglusa, La., who finished third in his first trip to Southern Raceway. James Ussery, and Kevin Mayer rounded out the top five.
Southern Raceway takes a week off before hosting round two of the Southern Super Late Model series and kicking off weekly racing action on March 16.
Notes: Joiner drives an unsponsored MasterSbilt racecar. … Defending track champion Randy Polk of Harold, Fla., elected not to start the main event after a disappointing qualifying effort. … Southern Raceway has scaled back Super Late Model action, replacing weekly events with a 12-race miniseries. … Southern also has 10 Crate Late Model races scheduled.
Southern Raceway: (1) Joseph Joiner, (2) Frank Wilson, (3) Kody Barber, (4) James Ussery, (5) Kevin Mayer, (6) Dillon Ussery, (7) Tyler Allen, (8) Cody Smith, (9) Roger Pack, (10) Todd Jones, (11) Randy Polk, (12) Brandon Howell. Fast qualifier: Joiner, 15.917 seconds.
