Story by: Corey Latham ~ corey@RACE22.com
Photos by: Corey Latham

Altamahaw, NC(September 12, 2009) -- As the last week of the races for the NASCAR state and national titles were upon us, the car count at most tracks were expected to rise. The past two seasons Philip Morris brought a small army with him to Ace Speedway to assure himself of the car count needed to win the National championship.

There was no Philip on this night, as Morris had already clinched the title and the field was a lot more slack than normal, boasting only 11 cars. But as the case every week the count doesn't matter here and the Rodney Cook, Speedy Faucette battle raged once more to the delight of the fans. Cook was able to hold off Faucette to the line for the win, but definitely earned his pay in doing so.

One of the first sights of the night walking in the pits was 2008 Bailey's 300 winner and Faucette's rival, Jason York. York had came two weeks ago for the first time since his run-in with Faucette in May and got beat by just three feet by Robert Turner in a photo finish. York had planned on finishing the season out at Ace also for the state points, but after considering that Martinsville was coming up, he decided that moving up in the state rankings wasn't worth it. So what was he doing there? Piloting a modified and trying to beat Brian King, in fact it was one of King's old cars. He fell just short though, but closer than anyone else all season, as King capped off his undefeated season with the Modified championship.

As the Late Model Stock Cars got ready to roll off, trouble was brewing for one competitor before the green even fell. Faucette had blistered the field to grab the pole award, but after a redraw between the top six drivers, Robert Turner was starting out front with Faucette back in fifth. As the cars went for their "hot laps" to get heat in the tires, Turner suddenly came onto pit road, with steam coming out the overflow. He had gotten lucky drawing the top spot, but his luck had ran out before lap one with a blown head gasket. Dustin Rumley would now lead the field to green.

Rumley had been on a tear of late, picking up a couple of wins at the beginning of August, but he didn't have the handle on the track on this night, as Faucette and Cook were on him by lap five, Faucette coming from fifth and Cook jumping from seventh to third on the first lap. The fifth lap is when the lead is lost, as Faucette and Cook both get under Rumley off turn four. Faucette's time in the lead would be short-lived, as Cook pestered the back bumper of the #37 for three laps before taking the top spot on lap eight. Then the game of chase began as Faucette worked hard on Cook for the lead.

As the front two of Cook and Faucette pulled away from the field, things behind them had settled down also as Jason Payne was having a great run getting by Rumley for third and bringing John Moore with him. His night would go south on lap 39, as the caution was displayed and Payne hit pit road. A broken shock mount would relegate him to running laps down for points the rest of the evening.

Another driver having a good run was Dean Fogleman, the 2008 Ace Speedway Late Model champion has had a year to forget, one of the most heartbreaking seasons in recent memory. After winning his first race and championship last year, the #71 car has found every wreck there has been or had every part fail that could. Tonight he was on it and had a good qualifying run before drawing the sixth starting spot. Towards the end of the night Fogleman and Rumley's battle was one of the best, as Rumley was barely able to hold on for the fourth position.

As the laps wound down, it looked as if it was going to be a showdown up front as Cook had pulled away from Faucette slightly, but it looked as if Faucette was saving his tires for one last run at the leader. He wouldn't need to save his tires after all, as Coy Hedrick spins in turn four to bring out the caution setting up a seven lap shootout.
 

The green flag flies and as hard as third place Moore tries, Cook and Faucette have the field covered. Cook jumps out to a 3 car-length lead, but as in previous runs, Cook was better at the sprints, Faucette could catch him in a few laps. This was true once again, as we get to three laps to go and Faucette is about to climb up on the back of Cook's car. Cook had an advantage in turn two slightly, but Faucette was better in three and four and could get up alongside Cook down the frontstretch, but not enough to keep the bottom lane entering turn one. We were all holding our breath as the two took the white flag and then something strange happened, the caution came out once more. Hedrick had spun again and the field had already taken the white flag by half a lap, so race over right? Not at Ace evidently ... we are now going to a green-white-checkered finish.

Once again Cook jumps out early, Faucette doesn't have the luxury of having laps to catch him, he can't let him get away early. He does manage to reel in Cook off of turn four coming to the white flag and they race into turn one with Faucette's front bumper almost underneath the rear of the #14. Entering turn three Cook looks to have it locked up, all he has to do is protect the bottom from this point out and the win is his. But he then did the one thing that could hurt him, he got in a tad too hard and bobbled coming off the corner allowing Faucette to dive low and get alongside. Faucette got his nose up to the door of Cook, but the finish line came too fast for him, Cook had taken the win.

Cook was your winner, followed by Faucette, Moore, Rumley and Fogleman rounding out the top five finishers. Another great night at Ace and a fierce battle between two drivers with one of the most vocal and longest rivalries around, Faucette vs. Cook. As the years have gone past, even though the two drivers can't stand each other still, they have developed a respect for each other on the racetrack. Gone are the days of wrecking each other to win, now they get way more enjoyment out of beating each other straight up on the track. Of course with a little contact to show you still don't like them and it benefits every person in attendance, as they paid to be entertained and entertainment is exactly what they get ... every week!