Joseph Joiner claimed his second ‘Bash at the Beach’ win
For the second time in as many years, Joseph Joiner laid claim to the ‘Battle at the Beach’ main event held at the Southern Raceway and sanctioned by the Southern All-Stars. At the same time, three people were arrested as a result of an on-track incident that later spilled into the pit area.
The Longhorn Chassis driver from Milton, Florida earned $10,000 from his hometown track in a race shown live by raceXR.plus.
A total of 26 cars were signed in for competition
Qualifying Results:
Group A Results- 1. Dalton Cook(14.409), 2. G.R. Smith, 3. Joseph Joiner, 4. Billy Franklin, 5. Matt Dooley
Group B Results- 1. Ashton Winger(14.459), 2. Ryan Crane, 3. Brenden Smith, 4. Tyler Clem, 5. Bo Slay
Heat 1 Results: 1. Dalton Cook, 2. Joseph Joiner, 3. Matt Dooley, 4. Caleb Gay
Heat 2 Results: 1. Ashton Winger, 2. Brenden Smith, 3. Bo Slay, 4. Parker Martin
Heat 3 Results: 1. G.R. Smith, 2. Billy Franklin, 3. Jeremy Pate, 4. Steven Jernigan
Heat 4 Results: 1. Tyler Clem, 2. Stephen Bailey, 3. Ryan Crane, 4. Jared Watson
Feature Re-cap: Cook grabbed the lead at the start of the 50-lap feature with Winger and Smith battling hard just behind. Contact going into turn one sent Winger up the track allowing Smith to take the spot. However, Winger would return the favor in turns three and four by throwing a hard slider that did some damage to the nose of Smith’s car.
After the completion of the first lap, Smith moved inside of Winger in an attempt to once again take the runner-up position but did a half spin that would ultimately drew a yellow flag when Smith drove into the infield area of the track. Under caution, Smith then drove by the other cars on the track until he caught up with Winger’s machine and delivered a blow to the left rear which sent his former driver spinning. Winger powered back up and moved around Smith. The No. 2 car of Smith then slammed into the No. 12 machine two more times causing extensive nose damage to his own car. before driving to the outside pit area.
Smith was disqualified for his actions on the track.
When the racing action resumed, Cook returned to the lead with a fierce battle between Winger, Joiner and Brenden Smith just a few car lengths behind the front runner until Slay spun to bring out another caution. On the lap 2 restart, Cook spun and collected Billy Franklin who was then hit by Gay which turned the Franklin car up on its side putting the race under red flag conditions.
During that time, Winger drove to the pit area with a flat tire. It was at that point when things turned physical between the competitors involved in the early race mishaps. According to a report published by DirtonDirt.com, police were called to the scene and Ashton Winger, Gary Winger(Ashton’s father), and Smith merchandise trailer overseer Scottie Parker were arrested.
Ashton Winger and Parker were later released on $1,000 bonds while Gary Winger continued to be held on felony charges of aggravated battery. G.R. Smith was questioned by police but not arrested.
When the racing action resumed, Cook continued to lead with Clem, Joiner and Brenden Smith trailing until the Smith car slowed losing several positions.
Cook began to pull away from the battle between Clem and Joiner with Crane holding down the fourth position. A lap 8 spin by Jernigan slowed the pace.
Clem and Joiner engaged in a position swapping fight for second at lap 10 that carried on for several tuns around the track. Joiner eventually broke away from that battle and tracked down the race leader.
Joiner passed Cook for the lead on lap 14 but Cook immediately came back to regain the spot as the two drivers worked in and around slower traffic. By lap 16, Joiner had firmly established himself as the front runner with Cook and Clem in pursuit.
Joiner then began to pull away from the pack throughout the middle stretches of the feature. The only challenge that remained for Joiner over the closing laps was to negotiate slower traffic until a set of late cautions brought on restarts.
But in the end, Joiner controlled the race to the checkered flag.
Feature Results: 1. Joseph Joiner, 2. Dalton Cook, 3. Stephen Brantley, 4. Bo Slay, 5. Tyler Clem, 6. Matt Dooley, 7. Jeremy Pate, 8. Steven Jernigan, 9. Ryan Crane, 10. Parker Martin, 11. Kendell Franklin, 12. Matthew Brocato, 13. Dan Cox, 14. Willie Traywick, 15. Michael Franklin, 16. Adam Boyd, 17. Jared Watson, 18. Brenden Smith, 19. Larry Yates, 20. Ashton Winger, 21. Billy Franklin, 22. Caleb Gay, 23. Tim Anderson, 24. Shay Miller, 25. G.R. Smith
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