Story by: Corey Latham ~ corey@RACE22.com

Altamahaw, NC(August 4, 2010) -- It was double points night, 100 laps, and $2000 to win for the Late Models this past Friday night at Ace Speedway, and some new faces came out for the fun. But the two having the most fun were the top dogs this season, as Dustin Rumley and Rodney Cook were in a class by themselves. They have gone at it tooth and nail all year, and while Cook is winning the war, Rumley got a little closer by winning the battle.

The best field of the season was on hand as 19 Late Models were on pit road ready to do battle. The new guys in town were Richard Childress Racing driver(and also Childress' grandson), Ty Dillon and UARA-STARS series regular, Garrett Campbell. Also some locals were also back after missing some time as Robert Turner and John Moore were ready to race, as the two have been plagued by engine problems all year forcing them to cut their season shorter than they expected.

When qualifying was over, it looked the same as usual atop the board as Rumley took the top spot by nearly two tenths. This has become a reoccurring theme as he has picked up, not four, not six, not seven but EIGHT poles in a row, leaving the rest of the field scratching their heads. Cook, who is usually a terrible qualifier, has picked that department up and timed in second, with Brad Kurth, Garrett Campbell and Robert Turner completing the top five. Campbell's run caught some people's attention, as outsiders usually do don't do well at Ace, but the track has been one of his best on the UARA tour and he knows how to use both grooves on the tight track.

The top six drivers in qualifying had a random redraw for starting positions, putting Kurth on the pole, Campbell to his outside, and Kurth's new rival Barry Beggarly right behind Kurth. All eyes were on them after the two went to war last week, but they were here to race and all was well as Kurth slid into the lead with Campbell falling into second. Their time up front would be short lived though.

Rumley and Cook were tearing through the top five, and by lap ten they were on Campbell and Kurth for the lead. A lap later, Campbell looked in his mirror and decided it was time to go as he went to the inside of Kurth for the lead, bringing Rumley and Cook with him. His laps lead stats would be short, as Rumley blew by him two laps later and Cook tried to follow the same hole. Cook finally cleared him, but not before a hard fight, as Campbell is very tough on the outside at the bullring, one of the few to make it work up there.

Our first caution came out on lap 17, as Bobby Griffin had been working the rear of Ty Dillon's machine for several laps, Dillon finally got the worst of it as he was spun off turn two. Not much damage for the #2 machine, but some of the ductwork got bent up underneath the car, forcing them to call it a night in fear of overheating. We now get our first "cone" restart of the night, as drivers get to choose whether they want to advance towards the front by starting on the outside. It doesn't always work for them, but it always works for the fans.

Campbell, Beggarly, Turner and Dean Fogleman all jump to the outside for the restart, but it was not to be as Rumley and Cook got away safely with Campbell falling into third and Scotty Warren getting by Turner to move into fourth. It was the best that Warren had looked all season after being out of racing for all last year, but this season back has been nothing but problem after problem. He would finally get it all together on this night and look like the Warren of old.

Warren gets to the back of Campbell on lap 23 and the two go side-by-side for third, with Warren finally coming out on top. Up front Rumley has a bumper full of Cook, but manages to fight him off as the two set into a groove and ride. This is where they start to pick them up and lay them down as they say, as the pair found their strides and totally demolished the field. Warren, Campbell, Turner and Beggarly were a full straightaway back, as the rest of the field simply counted down to when they were going to be lapped. Now don't get it wrong, they were racing hard back there with Fogleman, Jason Payne, Kurth and others beating and banging, but Rumley and Cook were in a world of their own carving through the rear of the field.

As they went on a long green flag run, Cook would have spurts reeling in the back bumper of Rumley, only to have the youngster pull away instantly, as if he could do it at will. Could this be the dominating drive Rumley had been looking for? He has won races this year, but not in dominating fashion as this, could the momentum between Cook and Rumley be swinging back the other way? Well, yes and no, the finish didn't look to be a close finish until it actually came down to the finish..........trust me, read on.

The party up front was finally halted on lap 63 with a caution for the spinning car of Bobby Griffin. He broke the trackbar, and it it punctured the right rear tire, they were able to make repairs but it was just to "ride it out" as he took a hit from second place in the points being it was double point night. Just a few laps prior John Moore parked his ride, but luckily it was not engine problems that ended his evening as it has been his Achilles heel all year. They just simply wish the bad luck would be over period.

After another quick caution, the third in a row comes out for one of the top runners. Campbell, Turner and Warren had alternated inside and outside for the previous restarts, but this one got Turner as he and Warren make contact putting Turner hard into the outside wall off turn two. Turner would come to a stop in turn three, and gave Warren a salute as he passed by. Needless to say, Turner will not be buying any Scotty Warren shirts anytime soon.

From then on it would be the Dustin Rumley show as he
 

turned on the afterburners. Cook was able to maintain with him throughout the race, but Rumley put it in another gear and simply drove away from him with ease, and looked very impressive in doing so. Behind them the battle was between Campbell in third and Warren wanting it, and he did so with 15 to go as he pinched Campbell into the wall off turn four to move into third. Another comer was Beggarly, and he was driving like a man possessed.

Beggarly and Kurth had their differences a week earlier, but everyone had played nice to this point. It was now "go time", and Beggarly wanted to go. Kurth had fifth, and Beggarly went by the Jimmy Spencer rule as he gave him a lap to get by then a lap for him to be moved. The two made contact a few times as Beggarly finally drove by and began chasing Campbell for the fourth spot. He caught him with ten to go, and beat the rear off the #12 of Campbell, matter of fact he beat the front almost off his car, as he finally got by Campbell. Beggarly was definitely faster, but it was hard to tell if Campbell just didn't give up the fight for mercy, they really put a beating on one another. In his defense Beggarly is a National Champion, and as "old-school" as they come, when it's time to go, it's time to go.

Rumley was cruising up front, and had nearly a full straightaway lead with eight laps to go. Then Cook cut it to half a straight with five to go, then ten car lengths with three to go, could he really pull this off? As they took the white flag Cook was still ten behind, a nearly insurmountable lead. But in front of Rumley were the lapped cars of Coy Hedrick and Kevin Parker and they broke his momentum going down the backstretch as Cook dives in turn three to give Rumley a light shot in the rear. Rumley manages to hang on but with Cook right on his bumper as they cross the line with the lapped cars tot he inside.

As said earlier, Cook is winning the war but if Rumley keeps winning the battles the season is just going to continue to get better. Rumley has won two of the last three and looks to have his Greg Marlowe machine exactly where he wants it now, not good news for Cook, and already bad news for the rest of the field.

Results:
1. Dustin Rumley
2. Rodney Cook
3. Scotty Warren
4. Barry Beggarly
5. Garrett Campbell
6. Brad Kurth
7. Jason Payne
8. Dean Fogleman
9. Thomas Scott
10. Kevin Parker
11. Mike Chambers
12. Coy Hedrick
13. Rusty Gaspard
14. Bobby Griffin
15. Robert Turner
16. John Moore
17. Ty Dillon
18. Jason Turner
DNS Matt Bowling