Story by: Corey Latham ~ corey@RACE22.com

Altamahaw, NC(July 28, 2010) -- At Ace Speedway this year, the two main players have been Rodney Cook and Dustin Rumley, and as the season has rolled on there has been no love loss between the two. While the personal feelings have somewhat calmed between the two, the action between them has not, with Rumley picking up the win a week ago over Cook who charged from the back of the field after starting last in an effort to pick up more ASA points.

This week it was Cook's turn at the top of the podium once more, after a fierce battle with Rumley who picked up his seventh pole in a row at the bullring. While those two battled cleanly, behind them Brad Kurth did something that nobody had done in 20 years, he made the legendary Barry Beggarly upset. At Ace if one pair calms down a tad, somebody is always there to pick up the slack.

As tracks across the region continue to have faltering car counts, Ace, which was in major trouble just a year ago, has become the exception. Once again they had a hefty field of 16 cars this past Friday, and as in the previous six races, Rumley was at the top of the charts. The surprise was newcomer Tony Keen who timed in second, followed by point leader Cook, former National champion Barry Beggarly, and Brad Kurth. The top five would be inverted putting Kurth and Beggarly starting side-by-side on the front row, and they would later be together again, but not the way each would of liked.

As the green fell Beggarly would jump out to a quick lead, but it would be short lived as the cars behind him did not get up to speed, causing extensive damage to defending champion Speedy Faucette who was making a rare appearance this night. Bobby Griffin who is second in the point standings was also caught up in the wreck, both he and Faucette would continue, and Faucette would put on a show for the rest of the evening.

After the restart Cook would make short work of Kurth for third as Rumley would also get by just a few laps later.After a quick caution for the spinning car of Tony Keen, Cook would make his move around Beggarly for the lead as Faucette would use the cone restart to get himself back into the top five with a car that rivaled the looks of a modified. Rumley and Faucette then put Beggarly to the fourth spot as he got freight trained on the outside, and to the awe of the fans, Faucette would give Rumley all he could handle for the second spot.

The main drama of the night would take place on a lap 37 restart after Tony Keen would spin once more. Beggarly would be the first car to go to the outside, and as they come off turn two after taking the green, Kurth slides up into Beggarly as the caution flies once again. As the cars have slowed and are coming down the frontstretch, Beggarly never slows and pile-drives into Kurth with both cars receiving heavy damage and facing the wrong direction just out of turn four. Beggarly would pick up the most damage ending his night, but his point was made as Kurth continued with a very bad driving car.

Beggarly was short with his words, but told what had happened. "That son of a gun hit me about five times and about wrecked me off turn two" said a very calm Beggarly. When asked what happened after the caution had came out he replied "Well, he hit me, so I made sure I hit him.........reeeaaalll good". Kurth's interview can be seen on our video interviews from earlier this week, and one thing's for sure, neither driver is happy with the other. Just the thought of Beggarly being in a rivalry brings back memories of yesteryear, and shows that the 61 year old isn't quite done yet.

After a red flag to calm things down, as the Beggarly and Kurth spotters had a quick scrap under the spotters stand, we were ready to get back to racing. Cook may have been up front, but Rumley wanted the spot and hounded the rear of him until lap 44 when he put his #88 machine in the lead. Not to be outdone Cook dials his car back in and gets back around just a few laps later. This is the good stuff right here.

After a restart for a blown tire on the Scotty Warren car, Rumley jumps back under Cook to take the top spot once more, but Cook comes right back and leans on Rumley to go back in front. The two looked to be poised for another classic Ace finish, but late cautions would not let it be on this night.

The late yellow flags would enable Cook to jump out in front, as Rumley had to battle the cars to the outside that took the cone option. Cook would take home his 8th victory of the year at ace, as Rumley and Faucette would follow close behind, with Jason Payne and Dean Fogleman getting very respectable top fives.

Rumley has become the king of qualifying, and Cook is still the car to beat in the end, but the competition gains on him every week, as Rumley looks to just be one small adjustment away. Bobby Griffin continues to have his best season ever, and Jason Payne is consistently in the top five each race. With Faucette possibly making more starts, Ryan Gray returning, Robert Turner and John Moore coming back next week after getting their motors sorted out, and the Kurth/Beggarly rivalry at a fever pitch, this Friday is sure to not disappoint.

Results from 7/23
1.Rodney Cook
2. Dustin Rumley
3. Speedy Faucette
4. Jason Payne
5. Dean Fogleman
6. Bobby Griffin
7. Kevin Parker
8. Thomas Scott
9. Brad Kurth
10. Coy Hedrick
11. Mike Chambers
12. Scotty Warren
13. Ryan Gray
14. Barry Beggarly
15. Tony Keen
16. Johnny Stovall