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John Goin celebrates his victory in a rain shortened feature at Southern National Motorsports Park. (Andy Marquis photo)
by Andy MarquisJune 29, 2020June 29, 2020
LUCAMA, NC – John Goin picked up his first career win of any kind in the second act of rain-shortened a Late Model doubleheader at Southern National Motorsports Park on Sunday in one of the strangest finishes to a race imaginable.
After an invert following defending track champion Bradley McCaskill’s win in the first race, Goin ended up starting on the outside of the front row.  The 23-year-old from Buckingham, Virginia passed Louis White on the opening lap of the first race and held off Brandon Clements and Mason Diaz in the middle stages of the race.  Goin was already en route to victory when the rain began pouring down in turns one and two on the 32nd lap of the 40 lap race, resulting in multiple cars crashing and the race being called.
“It means everything to win,” Goin said.  “I’ve been racing for a long time in all kinds of stuff, but this is my first year doing the full Late Model Stock deal with Craig Oliver.  I’d just like to say, he’s a hell of a car builder.  I’d like to give Sammy Houston a lot of credit too for putting a good setup in it.  I’d like to thank Bo Collins for putting me in this car and footing the bill.  Without Bo, this would never be possible.”
Goin had been pulling away from Clements and Diaz in the closing laps of the race, prior to the rainfall which ended the race, and felt like he would have won regardless of the incident on the final lap.
John Goin on track during qualifying at Southern National Motorsports Park. (Andy Marquis photo)
“I think we would have been alight,” Goin stated.  “We give a little bit, then we take a little bit.  The nerves were going wild man, just trying to get your first victory there.  I was glad I had some dirt racing experience there at the end.  I started saving tires and everything.  Craig kept telling me to save them and I actually, when I slowed down, I slowed down too much and let them get close to me, but once they were able to get on there to me, I was able to pick it back up and do what we needed to.”
Goin has spent much of his career racing on dirt but has recently transitioned to asphalt.  Despite being a Late Model Stock Car rookie at Southern National, Goin felt confident entering Saturday’s race.
“I actually had a good feeling today, when I left the hotel this morning that I had a good car,” Goin remarked.  “I’ve had a fast car everywhere I’ve gone.  I slacked up a lot being a rookie, but I was able to get it together today.”
Clements finished second while Diaz, McCaskill, and Daniels rounded out the top-five.
McCaskill led wire-to-wire in the first Late Model feature race, holding off Diaz, Clements, Rusty Daniels, and Goin.
Dylan Newsome held off Ronald Renfrow to win in Chargers while Justin Mitchell picked up the victory in Legends and Gary Ledbetter, Jr. was triumphant in the Street Stock feature.
Aaron Donnelly – DNS
Tagged: featured John Goin Southern National Motorsports Park
Andy Marquis is the managing editor of Race22.com, joining the team in 2011. Marquis has vast journalism experience, having covered ARCA, INDYCAR, NASCAR, AMA and IHRA Drag Racing. He has also covered politics from the local level in Maryland to the national level in Washington. Currently, he oversees the editorial side of Race22.com on a day-to-day basis while also contributing features and covering races on location.