Story by: Corey Latham ~ corey@RACE22.com

Altamahaw, NC(August 6, 2009) -- Fight to the death ... That's what they did in Roman times and that was the scene last year at ACE Speedway for the annual UARA series event.

Four cars battling for the win, BJ Mackey had the victory entering turn three, but he was not the car going to victory lane on that night as hometown favorite, "The Reidsville Rocket" Jason York was able to take home the checkered flag that evening. Still thinking about the most thrilling UARA finish in the series history, It's time to make the trek to ACE once more, and "The Reidsville Rocket" is looking to go for two in a row.

Coming in, Matt McCall is the hottest driver on the tour, or all Late-Model racing period, as he is the car to beat consistently every time out on the track. Surprisingly enough, the veteran McCall has never raced at ACE before, and last week was his first time on the track for some testing. Word to the competition though, don't look to have an advantage, as McCall ran under 30 laps and was happy with his car and headed to the house, running some times that were very fast and consistent.

Other than McCall, the favorite coming in will be the outsider York, who has not raced any UARA events this season thus far. The 2004 UARA champion is a multi-championship winner at ACE, and looked to be on top of his game right out of the trailer during his test. As usual, York was of few words but his actions on the track speak volumes.

"I'm really looking forward to it, we have only raced over here one time this year, I hope we have the same outcome as last year," said the soft-spoken York. "This series is tough and this will probably be our only stop on it, money is tight this year and business is slow and on top of that we haven't been having that great a year anyway, led more laps than anybody when we race, just had some freak mechanical issues knock us out early".

York has had some issues not of his own doing this year, but has still been the car to beat each week at his weekly track, placing your money on him for Friday's victory could be a smart investment. The race Friday will also have some hometown cooking and a few drivers we haven't seen in a while. ACE Speedway regulars Rodney Cook and Robert Turner will race with the UARA and try to put some of the experience they have at the track to use. Both drivers have multiple wins this year at the bullring, but running the Goodyear tires could throw them for a loop, as they run Hoosiers on the weekly series.

Bet's are that they will adapt quickly, and either driver could be a force in the top 5 or even for the win before the night is over. Whatever the case, one thing is for sure, the grandstands will have an extra few hundred people in them as this track is very loyal to It's weekly drivers and those two have some of the biggest fan counts around to begin with.

Two more drivers we haven't seen in a while are Darrell Wallace Jr. and Ryan Robertson. Wallace has took the last two races off and did manage to go race some at the Nashville Fairgrounds in the meantime. Robertson and his whole Robertson Motorsports team, have took a hiatus leading up to losing one of their team members and close friend Jason Hoyle. Jason lost his courageous battle with cancer 2 weeks ago at the young age of 23, but it will be good to see the team back at the track once more, as they have dedicated the rest of the season to Jason's memory. We at RACE22.com send our prayers and condolences to the Hoyle family and friends, as Jason was a friend to us here as well.

The most talked about driver this year, some for winning, some for the wrong reasons will be back once more, Alex Yontz. Alex has been driving the Barber Ford at Caraway Speedway this year and It's no secret what the big news about that ride has been, his 3 DQ's there, 2 in that car. After getting strip searched in victory lane at the Rusty Harpe Memorial race, then being DQ'd a few weeks ago for not reporting directly to the scales after the race, the simply said they had enough. They will be at ACE Friday and the former UARA champion looks to put the controversy aside and get back to his winning ways in the series. Alex was the winner for the first stop ever for the tour here in 07'.

We can't forget about our UARA regulars. Kyle Grissom has been good all year, but has seem to fade a little bit in the last 30 laps of races. Brandon McReynolds will be good, but anything and everything that could have happened to him has. Maybe this will be the week to turn his luck around. Coleman Pressley, fresh out of his Nationwide series start at Iowa last week, will be one to watch as he tries to get his form back from last year.

Garrett Campbell started on the outside row for this race a year ago and was threatening throughout the event, luck too is something they are wishing to find, as the last few races haven't been kind. And then there is Paddy Rodenbeck, the second hottest driver on the tour. Paddy came home 13th last year in his only start here, but 09' has proven to be a whole new ballgame, he is on top of the wheel week in and week out and having Jeff Caudill as a crew chief doesn't hurt.

Did I say the name Caudill? There are so many good drivers at this event, It's hard to pick a favorite, but Jamey Caudill has to be one of them. He doesn't get much talk about him, well, because people have came to realize where he is going to finish every week..........up front. The all-time UARA win leader has been having a fierce battle with McCall for the top spot in the championship and we have no doubt it will get even tighter at ACE. I'm really looking forward to this race and you should be too.

Note: Our very own Rob Staley, a reporter here for RACE22 lost his father earlier this week. Rob will be at the track this weekend with a heavy heart, but at the same time carrying on some of the fondest memories him and his father had, going to the racetrack together. We here at RACE22.com send our prayers and love to Rob and his family during this difficult time and take comfort in knowing his father will be looking out for us this weekend.