Joseph was apparently born to race, and these days his success on the dirt track is proof of that. The same could be said for his older twin brothers, Joshua and Jonathan, dirt track junkies in their own right.
Advertisement
What the brothers didn’t know, however, was that their driving careers would lead them to a successful foray into the social media realm and eventually catapult them to the unlikely ownership of their own racetrack.
The Milton area natives recently purchased the same Southern Raceway they have raced at since their teens and that their father and own brother had frequented in their youth.
Joshua Joiner said the success of his YouTube vlog “Hunt the Front,” which focuses on the world of dirt track racing and has grown to include a Hunt the Front Super Dirt series and the livestreaming platform Hunt the Front TV, led the Joiner boys, along with their wives, to consider purchasing the track.
“When YouTube took off, we realized we could do more to bring racing closer to people,” he said. “In 2020 we realized we could do a lot with it, turn it into a profitable business, a business that benefits us, benefits racing and benefits families.”
Advertisement
But before the racing team could begin negotiations with the Arnold family, which has owned the 33-acre property since the late 1980s, they were forced to wait until negotiations for the purchase of the land by the owner of an auto salvage business failed.
Like others who had grown up and still live near the Southern Raceway site on Nichols Lake Road, the Joiners could only watch helplessly as the sale of the 33-acre property seemed imminent.
“Everyone had heard that this was very close to no longer being a racetrack. When the sale fell through, we jumped. The next week we were talking to the owner,” Joshua Joiner said. “We’re going to keep this as a racetrack. We’re going to work with the county and do whatever we need to do to keep this what it is, a racetrack.”
The sale of the property for $950,000 was consummated on Jan. 28, according to documents from the Santa Rosa County Property Appraiser’s Office.
Advertisement
The Joiner brothers were well aware that they would have their work cut out for them when they took over the Southern Raceway headquarters, although they now admit they underestimated the true state of disrepair it was in.
“We were a little frustrated by the lack of maintenance on the track,” Joshua Joiner said.
The sale closed on a Wednesday. The next day, the Hunt the Front racing team left for Georgia for a weekend of racing. They returned to Milton on Sunday and got to work returning Southern Raceway to a place it hadn’t been in years.
Joshua Joiner said the $50,000 budgeted to revitalize the rink didn’t last long. The new owners have spent about $200,000 so far and “haven’t really scratched the surface” of doing everything that needs to be done.
Advertisement
“The buildings, the lighting, the stands, the concession area, the restrooms, a lot of these things are original from when the track was built in the 1980s, so we have to replace everything,” Joshua Joiner said. “There’s a lot of work to be done and no end in sight. Just a lot of garbage lying around. It takes a little work to operate a facility like this.”
“You could spend a million dollars here and there would still be things to do.”
Jonathan chuckled as he recalled recent negotiations with a company called in to estimate the cost of upgrading the lighting around the track facility.
“He offered to do it for $400,000. We politely told him we couldn’t do it,” he said. “We are working as fast as our budget and work capacity allow.”
Advertisement
But the brothers were not going to abandon their dream. They realized that the key to reestablishing the track lay in rebuilding the track that had originally brought people through the turnstiles. In dirt racing, which the brothers agree is certainly more exciting than racing on asphalt, track design is the key component to creating good competition.
It didn’t hurt that John, the children’s father, had worked on site grading and construction and had proven more than willing to pitch in and help.
The new owners held a “soft opening” at the track on February 14 that attracted about 1,500 people, a number Joshua Joiner described as “unheard of” for an event of this type. The first real race attracted fans from all over the country, more than twice as many visitors as the Valentine’s Day event, and between 60 and 70 drivers.
“Participation in the big event shows there is a lot of interest,” said Joshua Joiner. “And the great driver turnout shows that the drivers are excited to race on a better track.”
Advertisement
It didn’t hurt that Hunt the Front kept their fans across the country informed through videos about the work they were doing on the track.
“We have a lot of followers on YouTube. We reach a lot of people,” Joshua Joiner said. “When we came in and started making improvements right away, people took notice. The excitement level went up.”
Local businesses have also chipped in to help the Hunt the Front team by purchasing signs to display at the track.
The resurgence of Southern Raceway and the excitement the new owners have generated so far comes at a time when East Milton is undergoing tremendous growth. As in many other areas along State Road 87, residential development is taking place along Nichols Lake Road.
Advertisement
The Joiners say they are aware of what is happening around them. They said they intend to finish all races by 10 p.m. and will make every effort to avoid the stigma associated with a “noisy neighbor.”
“That’s something we’re going to do a better job of. We really want to strive to run an efficient program,” Joshua Joiner said. “We recognize that development is happening here and we will do everything we can to be good partners.”
Further: The court deals offer a “golden opportunity” to transform Milton. What’s next?
There is also hope on the part of the new owners that the community will accept and respect the efforts being made to revive the track and show some understanding for their way of life.
Advertisement
“This is a racetrack and has been a racetrack since 1989,” Joshua Joiner said.
The Hunt the Front team envisions Southern Raceway as a destination track on par with Pensacola’s Five Flags Speedway, which hosts the popular annual Snow Ball Derby. With beaches to the south and ideal weather conditions for pre-race season events for drivers in January and February, it could become almost a spring training-type attraction for racing fans and provide a boost to the local economy.
But that’s best left for the future, Joshua Joiner said.
“We want to set aside this year to improve the track and facilities,” he said. “Great career planning can come later.”
This article originally appeared in the Pensacola News Journal: Southern Raceway dirt track near Milton purchased by Hunt the Front team