Story by: Corey Latham ~ corey@RACE22.com

Altamahaw, NC(October 23, 2009) -- After being denied last year by two points in a dominating season, Speedy Faucette made sure there were no questions as he wrapped up the 2009 campaign at Ace Speedway winning the championship handily.

But it wasn't as easy as it sounds, even though he had a large point lead and won seven races, he faced some of the stiffest talent around week in and week out, and had to scratch tooth and nail every lap of the year. And he wouldn't of had it any other way, after all, his T-shirts say "Old School" on them, and he had to put that saying to use to beat a few drivers with the same motto.

While Ace hasn't had the notoriety as other tracks in the past few years, the racing there has been some of the best around the region. Every week, Faucette had to battle with the likes of Dustin Rumley and the veteran Robert Turner, but usually in the end it was between he and his arch rival for the past few years, Rodney Cook. The Faucette and Cook battle has been the fiercest in the Late Model world for some time now, as other rivalries have been mostly talk, these two have battled on the track each and every week, with hard racing and controversy usually at each event. But the 2009 season was different in a way, the controversy was gone, but the hard racing between the two was as fierce as ever, and throwing Turner and Rumley into the mix had the fans in awe the entire year.

"I've said it for three years now, Rodney, Robert and now Dustin, those guys are really good," said Faucette. "And I knew it was coming, I knew they would keep working on their cars and get better every week. Mine has been good for a while, so I really didn't want to do a whole lot to it, but they did catch up in a hurry. Racing works in a cycle, if you hit on something and get a little bit of an advantage for a little while, everybody else is going to work hard to catch up. And then at the same time you don't want to do anything out of the ballpark to throw yourself out of the game, so it all comes around eventually. I was really impressed with how well Rodney's car handled this year, he could get through the corners exceptionally well, I was really impressed how good he had that Chevrolet going. You know, Rodney and Robert are both veterans, they know what they are doing, so it feels good to beat some of the best around."

Faucette also talked about the track not getting the credibility that some other tracks get by not having "big" names there, and was quick to point out that running at Ace is no cakewalk for out of towners. "Maybe we don't have big names as some people like to say, but we did have Frank Deiny come over in 04' and win the championship, and you can bet that he respects us. It started when it was first paved, you had Jay Fogleman and Barry Beggarly winning races, and in recent memory it was Todd Massey, myself, Robert and Rodney. We are all hard-nosed racers, when you come here you are going to have to race us and race us hard, that's just the way it is. Philip Morris came there a few years ago and thought it was going to be a cakewalk for his National Championship, and he could barely finish in the top 5 for two races. There are a lot of tracks that you can just show up at and practice and run up front, Ace Isn't one of them."

"It just feels good to get this one behind us" said a happy but hurting Speedy, as he broke his foot a few weeks ago when the race car fell on him. "My crew has helped me so much this year, we don't have a lot of money like some of these other teams, but I like to think we work as hard as anybody. Bill Lancaster, my brother Tommy Faucette,
 

Donnie West, Rod Smith, David Bryson, and especially my wife Sharon, she is as involved with this whole deal as much as anyone. I need to thank Sandy Wilkins at Wilkins Motorsports along with Charlie Long for my motors and machine work and Wesley Page for my shocks. And without King Auto Salvage, Southern Microscope and Beaver Creek Farms helping us, we wouldn't be there anyway."

People over the years have labeled Faucette as only being able to drive one track, but die-hard race fans and Speedy know that Isn't the case as everyone see's, you have to drive where your sponsors need you, but next year Faucette looks to venture out to change the doubters. "I'll be honest with ya, I read the internet from time to time, I see what people are saying, Faucette and those other boys can only run at Ace", Faucette said sternly. "Rodney has won at other tracks, Robert runs good at other places, and I've ran good at other tracks from time to time in my limited experiences there, I had a few top 3's at South Boston a few years ago when I drove the Stigall car a couple of races. I'd like to go out a prove that I can run other tracks, I know I can do it, but it all depends on what happens in the off season and how the sponsors play out. I think me and Rodney both told you last year that we would not be back this year, but we ended up running 1 and 2, so it worked out for me. Ace is my home track, they have some problems to sort out and I hope they can get a good car count for next year, run by the NASCAR rules, and everything should be fine over there."

In talking with Speedy, you could really tell that he wants to prove himself at other places, but at the same time, to do what he did this season at Ace is nothing to laugh at. I have said it all season long, as I venture to other tracks and see racing weekly, Ace may not have the car count, but they have the racing, some of the best I have seen in years anywhere. Each and every week the battles between Faucette, Cook, Turner, and now Rumley are classic, with a lot of contact, so much that lesser drivers would be wrecked.

But, they are true "old-school" drivers, they get up on the wheel and save it each time, that is how they race there, it is not for a driver faint at heart. But it also Isn't a crash fest of crazed drivers, more like "controlled aggression", it looks like a work of art when they really get into it, most nights each driver leave without a mark on their car. That makes Speedy's championship that much better, what he had to do to get it, no matter what people say he is right up there with the best in the region in pure driving skill.

Thanks to all the drivers for entertaining us all year, and especially to Speedy on his championship, driving a car 13 years old to the championship, goes to show that the "driver" is still important in racing.