Larson Finishes Second in Billie Harvey Memorial 100 at New Smyrna
04/25/2009 - Justin Larson and the #88 Super Late Model traveled to New Smyrna Speedway over the weekend for the 2nd Annual Billie Harvey Memorial 100. Seventeen cars made the trip and took time during qualifying. With qualifying positions being determined on a first come, first serve basis, Justin and his team discussed what they should do and decided it would be of their best interest to be one of the first cars to take time. Larson would start seventh in the 100 lap event. With the majority of the cars starting in front of him being New Smyrna regulars, Justin knew he had his work cut out for him.
Patience would be the key if the #88 was going to find its way to the winner’s circle. By lap five, Larson had already found his way to the fifth position. After the first caution on lap six, Justin would continue to work his way through the field up to the third position. The field would go green until lap eighty-two when the second place car of Wayne Anderson found himself sitting on the back stretch after a spin.
The field would go back green at lap eighty-six and Larson knew it was time to go hard if he wanted to get around Tim Russell. Justin would try all he could and at times was nearly side by side with Russell coming off of turn two. The #88 would get several good runs on the #36 but none of them were good enough to take over the lead. The caution flag would come out one last time on the final lap. The restart would be the last shot Larson had if he wanted to be the first car to the checkered flag. Unfortunately, Russell got the better of Justin on the restart and beat him to the stripe. Larson, who is still looking for a sponsor, would finish second ahead of Daniel Webster, B.J. McLeod and Corey Freed.
“This is an awesome night for our team. The last few times we’ve raced here at New Smyrna we’ve had some bad luck. It’s great to finally finish well here,” explained Larson. “We added this race to our schedule at the last minute and I’m kind of glad we did. This is a big confidence booster for the whole team. I’m really looking forward to the next ASA race.”
The Justin Larson Racing, Inc. team will head to Watermelon Capitol Speedway in Cordele, GA on May 9th for the fourth ASALMS South event of the year.