Written By Mary Lendzion
Photography by the Race Pages Staff and courtesy of Alan Joiner
Alan Joiner’s combination has come a long way since he began competing in his 2003 Mustang Cobra SVT years ago.
He started with a stock 281 cubic-inch 4.6L engine, Eaton supercharger, a small amount of nitrous and a Tremec six-speed transmission, and coaxed 10s out of that combination.
After melting a piston, he went with a new set of custom pistons and upgraded to an aluminum block, replaced his Tremec six-speed transmission with a Turbo 400 automatic transmission with Coan internals and a Reid case, and went from nitrous to a Whipple 3.4L supercharger and began clocking 9s.
Then last year, Joiner, who has been competing in various NMRA Shootout categories, Street Car Challenge and Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle, ran as quick and fast as 8.35 and 162 mph in his car, which rolls on UPR, AFCO, and Viking suspension components and Mickey Thompson drag radials wrapped around RC Components wheels.
Unfortunately, his race season ended when a cam bearing seized and he ended up with a broken timing chain and bent valves at the Whipple Superchargers NMRA All-Ford World Finals presented by Competition Clutch and Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival last September at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Kentucky.
“I was running Modular Muscle and Street Car Challenge that weekend, and the damage was too bad to keep going in either category,” said Joiner, who tunes his combination with a Haltech engine management system.
Joiner sent his stock Modular Four-Valve cylinder heads to the Modular Head Shop in Florida for repair, and he sent his block, crank, and cams to Wild Irish Engines in Indiana for some work. Soon, he’ll be able to put his engine back together.
“Wild Irish Engines is going to clean one of my cams and inspect my Wiseco rods, Gibtec billet pistons, and internals,” said Joiner. “They’re also going to modify the oil system a little bit by putting some fittings in my heads and oil pan, and I’ll assemble my engine, and install my SouthBay fuel injectors and Waterman cable-drive fuel pump when they’re done.”
Joiner also plans to swap pulleys on his Whipple 3.0L Gen 5 supercharger before tuning his car and combination to take on the NMRA’s new SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race, a heads-up category that will be contested at the 28th Annual Spring Break Shootout, as well as the 14th Annual NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals, April 21-24 at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina, 22nd Annual NMRA Ford Performance Nationals, June 9-12 at Summit Motorsports Park in Ohio and the 24th Annual NMRA World Finals + Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival, Sept. 29-Oct. 3 at Beech Bend Raceway in Kentucky.
“Nick Perciello from Whipple Superchargers called and told me about the new SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race category, and asked if I would be interested, and I definitely was,” said Joiner, who will work with Edge Converters for the perfect converter to complement his combination. “It sounds like a nice category.”
Joiner, who has support from his sons, Adam and Blake Joiner, as well as Jake Conant, James Hellerman of Cobra Engineering and sponsors Whipple Superchargers, SouthBay Fuel Injectors, UPR, RC Components, O’Reillys Auto Parts and Cobra Engineering, will be racing among some amazing competitors, including Leticia Hughes, Casey Shotwell, Tony Whetstone, Bo Webb, James Meredith, Kevin Schweizer and others, but he is ready to give it everything he has to rise to the challenge.
“My car, which is really consistent, will be a good fit for SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race,” said Joiner. “I can definitely dial it in to be competitive, and want to run the category for the whole season.”
Photography by the Race Pages Staff and courtesy of Alan Joiner
Alan Joiner’s combination has come a long way since he began competing in his 2003 Mustang Cobra SVT years ago.
He started with a stock 281 cubic-inch 4.6L engine, Eaton supercharger, a small amount of nitrous and a Tremec six-speed transmission, and coaxed 10s out of that combination.
After melting a piston, he went with a new set of custom pistons and upgraded to an aluminum block, replaced his Tremec six-speed transmission with a Turbo 400 automatic transmission with Coan internals and a Reid case, and went from nitrous to a Whipple 3.4L supercharger and began clocking 9s.
Then last year, Joiner, who has been competing in various NMRA Shootout categories, Street Car Challenge and Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle, ran as quick and fast as 8.35 and 162 mph in his car, which rolls on UPR, AFCO, and Viking suspension components and Mickey Thompson drag radials wrapped around RC Components wheels.
Unfortunately, his race season ended when a cam bearing seized and he ended up with a broken timing chain and bent valves at the Whipple Superchargers NMRA All-Ford World Finals presented by Competition Clutch and Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival last September at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Kentucky.
“I was running Modular Muscle and Street Car Challenge that weekend, and the damage was too bad to keep going in either category,” said Joiner, who tunes his combination with a Haltech engine management system.
Joiner sent his stock Modular Four-Valve cylinder heads to the Modular Head Shop in Florida for repair, and he sent his block, crank, and cams to Wild Irish Engines in Indiana for some work. Soon, he’ll be able to put his engine back together.
“Wild Irish Engines is going to clean one of my cams and inspect my Wiseco rods, Gibtec billet pistons, and internals,” said Joiner. “They’re also going to modify the oil system a little bit by putting some fittings in my heads and oil pan, and I’ll assemble my engine, and install my SouthBay fuel injectors and Waterman cable-drive fuel pump when they’re done.”
Joiner also plans to swap pulleys on his Whipple 3.0L Gen 5 supercharger before tuning his car and combination to take on the NMRA’s new SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race, a heads-up category that will be contested at the 28th Annual Spring Break Shootout, as well as the 14th Annual NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals, April 21-24 at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina, 22nd Annual NMRA Ford Performance Nationals, June 9-12 at Summit Motorsports Park in Ohio and the 24th Annual NMRA World Finals + Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival, Sept. 29-Oct. 3 at Beech Bend Raceway in Kentucky.
“Nick Perciello from Whipple Superchargers called and told me about the new SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race category, and asked if I would be interested, and I definitely was,” said Joiner, who will work with Edge Converters for the perfect converter to complement his combination. “It sounds like a nice category.”
Joiner, who has support from his sons, Adam and Blake Joiner, as well as Jake Conant, James Hellerman of Cobra Engineering and sponsors Whipple Superchargers, SouthBay Fuel Injectors, UPR, RC Components, O’Reillys Auto Parts and Cobra Engineering, will be racing among some amazing competitors, including Leticia Hughes, Casey Shotwell, Tony Whetstone, Bo Webb, James Meredith, Kevin Schweizer and others, but he is ready to give it everything he has to rise to the challenge.
“My car, which is really consistent, will be a good fit for SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race,” said Joiner. “I can definitely dial it in to be competitive, and want to run the category for the whole season.”