Story by Godwin Kelly – Daytona News Journal Sports Editor
SAMSULA — Tim Russell, who started fourth in the 26-car field, led almost every lap to win Saturday’s caution-filled Billie Harvey 100 Super Late Model feature at New Smyrna Speedway.
Sam Watts finished second followed by Ben Kennedy in his No. 96 Chevrolet, who raced side-by-side with Rich Clouser.
Russell has won five consecutive FASCAR Triple Crown races, including last year’s Billie Harvey 100.
“We had an awesome car,” Russell said. “It’s pretty cool to win this race. My dad said Billie Harvey would give the shirt off his back.”
It was a wild race with six cautions, two red flags and one serious hissy fit.
The first green flag set the tone for the night. It took three tries to start the 100-lap race over the fast, half-mile oval. There was action on the first lap when the No. 34 of Shaughn McCormick spun on the front stretch as the green flag was displayed.
On the next restart, there was a four-car pileup on the backstretch that forced a red-flag to clean up the mess. The red flag lasted about 15 minutes.
When the cars came to a stop, Matthew Stichmann emerged from his battered machine and started jumping up and down on the hood of the No. 14 entry driven by Mario Maresca.
Stichmann then bounded off the Maresca’s machine and started kicking it and punching the sheet metal with his fist. Stichmann tried to throw a punch at Maresca through the driver’s side window before he was restrained by track officials. FASCAR told Stichmann to pack up and head home.
When the race started, just after 10 p.m., it quickly became a two-car battle between short-track aces Russell and Wayne Anderson. But Anderson wiped out with 20 laps to go.
The third yellow flag was waved on Lap 10 when Mike Finn slammed the wall in Turn 2. The race went back to green on Lap 17, with Russell and Anderson continuing their side-by-side battle.
The fourth caution came out for Mario Gosselin, who slapped the wall hard in Turn 4 on Lap 60. The right side of Gosselin’s No. 61 car was pancaked, but the driver was reported unharmed.
Gosselin’s machine leaked so much fluid on the track, FASCAR officials had to red-flag the race a second time for extensive cleanup.
OFFICIAL RESULTS – 4/24/10
3rd ANNUAL BILLIE HARVEY MEMORIAL
BILLIE HARVEY MEMORIAL 100
SUPER LATE MODELS1. #36 Tim Russell
2. #73 Sam Watts
3. #96 Ben Kennedy
4. #9 Rich Clouser
5. #141 Travis Hanson
6. #33x Daniel Webster
7. #4B Alan Bruns
8. #88 Justin Larson
9. #9z Zack Donatti10. #127 Brandon Booth
11. #29 Mallory Harvey
12. #22 Dusty Cornelius13. #21 James Carter
14. #64 Joe Winchell15. #84 Wayne Anderson16. #33 Jeff Choquette17. #61 Mario Gosselin18. #26c Travis Cope19. #119 JR McMickle20. #14 Mario Maresca21. #80 Brian Finney22. #05x David LeBeau23. #06 Mike Finn24. #13 Bob Greene25. #34 Shaughn McCormick
DQ #52 Matthew StichmannPRO-TRUCKS1. #20 Anthony Sergi
2. #15 Cody Blair
3. #7 Thomas Warnick
4. #99 Brent Tyler5. #10 Blake Suttie
6. #8 Bobby Kennedy7. #4K Amanda Gogel
8. #7B Sonny Buchanan9. #7S Dale Stephens10. #73 Jim Campbell11. #28 TJ Duke12. #24 Bruce Bennett13. #3 Jim Alterizio
DQ #21 Scott ReevesE-MODIFIEDS1. #15 Cody Blair
2. #89 Josh Todd3. #54 David Hite
4. #6 Rich Clouser5. #59 Chris Brannon6. #36 Russ Moore
7. #5 John CompagnoneSUPER STOCKS1. #56 Bobby Holley2. #60 Ernie Tumminello3. #86 RIchard Goodrich
4. #21 Mike Dahm5. #22K Eric KottwitzSTRICTLY STOCKS1. #8 Neil Kirby
2. #9 David Brannon3. #54 Daryl Thiel4. #21 Maureen DahmDQ #60 Gino Tumminello