Story by: Corey Latham ~ corey@RACE22.com

Altamahaw, NC(May 10, 2010) -- Can anyone stop Rodney Cook??? ... That's the question that everyone around Ace Speedway is starting to wonder.

After rolling to three wins in the first four races to start the season, Cook was up to his old tricks once again at Ace Speedway en route to win number four on the year this past Friday night. The only blemish to his resume at Ace this season was on a twin 40 lapper night that he split with his main competition this year, Brad Kurth. New competition keeps stepping up to the plate, but so far Cook just keeps knocking them down.

The night had 12 Late Model Stock Cars on hand for the 75-lap event, with an old face back and one regular that was missing for good reason from the last event two weeks ago. Ryan Wilson raced at Ace last season as much as he could with his Caraway schedule, and was back again with the off week form there to make his second start of the season at Ace. But the big news was Dustin Rumley, who had his car destroyed two races ago in a violent fiery crash, but was back with a whole new attitude, and a car to boot. He was running a brand new Marlowe Racing Chassis and right out of the box he was opening some eyes.

Rumley had those eyes wide open as he destroyed the field in qualifying with a lap of 15.645 to Cook's 15.759, taking the pole by over a tenth. What makes it especially impressive is the fact that is was a brand new car and usually a new car doesn't mean instant results, everything usually needs a braking in period and time to get kinks out. But there were no kinks on his day, as he led the practice session then put it on the pole, only to draw a five out of the bag inverting the top five qualifiers. This now put Jason Payne up front, followed by Brad Kurth, Bobby Griffin, Cook and Rumley.

Kurth wasted no time taking the top spot from the outside as the green fell, as he knew the duo of Cook and Rumley would be making their way to the front in short fashion. And that they did, bypassing Payne for second on lap five, and starting the chase for Kurth for the lead. Three laps later Cook had moved to the rear of Kurth while Rumley had fallen back from the leaders, and Cook didn't stay satisfied with the runner-up spot for long, blowing by Kurth into the lead on the tenth lap. But while Cook was sizing up Kurth for the lead, Rumley reeled them both in and followed Cook through the hole for second.

It was now a two car race, as Cook and Rumley laid down a torrid pace to distance themselves from the rest of the field. Behind them Ryan Wilson and Dean Fogleman were up to their usual tricks, as they usually find each other on the tight confines at Ace, and this night was no different as once again contact was made sending Fogleman up the track. Everybody's fun was ended as Thomas Scott blew an engine going down the backstretch, and our first restart of the night was upon us, and the cone made it's first appearance.

The cone rule is for any car behind the leaders to pull to the outside and try their luck to advance their position in the outside groove, which is not the preferred way around Ace. Wilson jumped at the chance and pulled up beside Cook, but this was a close as he was going to get to the #14 Ford of the two-time Ace champion, as Cook pulled away off turn two. It would take three more laps for Rumley to dispose of Wilson for second and that was crucial, as the lead that Cook had gained in those three short laps was nearly 20 car lengths.

Cook was leaving, Rumley was chasing, and Kurth was falling. After being one of the dominant cars all season, Kurth looked poised again for a strong run. But as the laps wound down, the #9 of Kurth started to go the wrong way, and it was obvious why as the car skated up the track more and more as the lap clicked off.

"It was way bad tight," said a disappointed Kurth after the race. "It was good to begin with and then it just fell off quick, I could barely get it to turn in the corner. We know it's a good car, we just went the wrong way on the adjustments tonight. We'll learn from it and move on."

As the race winds down, Rumley is starting to reel in Cook just a tad, but the lead is nearly insurmountable. The real battle is between Wilson, Griffin and Payne as they are in a dogfight for the third spot. Griffin is finally able to clear both Payne and Wilson, leaving it between those two to decide the fourth spot. Payne gets into the back of Wilson a few times to get him loose, but to no avail and his last lap effort comes up half a car length short.

In victory lane was a familiar sight, as Cook and his crew celebrated their fourth victory of the year. Rumley was excited about second, but felt that he had the best car on this night and just got caught up in traffic and couldn't make up the difference that Cook was able to establish with the clean track in front of him. But they know what they have now with their brand new car, and with a few minor adjustments, Cook will have some close company.

The fans and others along the pits were heard saying the word "bounty" as some tracks put up money increases to beat a dominant car and to raise car count with outsiders trying their luck. From the way the Cook machine has only been getting stronger each week, the competition had better pack their lunch if they want a chance to compete with the veteran.

In the Limited Late Model division it was another wild race that ended with Ziggy Zimmerman returning to victory lane while recent winner, Boo Boo Dalton and Tony Ramsey tangled ending with Ramsey flipping down the front stretch. Dalton returned from the crash to finish third behind Zimmerman and Jake Creed.

Late Model Stock Car Results:
1 - Rodney Cook #14
2 - Dustin Rumley
3 - Bobby Griffin #85
4 - Ryan Wilson #12
5 - Jason Payne #9
6 - Brad Kurth #9
7 - Mike Chambers #27
8 - John Moore #4
9 - Kevin Parker #10
10 - Coy Hedrick #44
11 - Dean Fogleman #71
12 - Thomas Scott #8

Limited Late Model Results:
1 - Ziggy Zimmerman
2 - Jacob Creed
3 - Boo Boo Dalton
4 - Steven Truell
5 - Jason Turner
6 - Bethany Stovall
7 - Tony Ramsey
8 - Patrick Coleman