Story by: Corey Latham ~ corey@RACE22.com

Altamahaw, NC(September 16, 2010) -- It was down to this, the last race of the season for the Late Models at Ace Speedway. While Dustin Rumley all but had the championship in his pocket, one more race was still to be run and with the rivalry between Rumley and Rodney Cook going at a fever pitch, the man in second place in the points, Jason Payne, was loving it.
 
Would it all come to a head on the final night? Would Cook intentionaly cost Rumley a championship? Would Rumley give out payback to Cook for wrecking him earlier in the year? One thing was for sure when it was over, Barry Beggarly could care less about all that mess, he just comes to win.

Rumley would pick up the pole once more destroying the field with a time of 15.581. The surprise was on the outside front row, as former UARA competitor Matthew Godley was racing for the first time this season, and looked fast all day putting his #92 on the front row. Beggarly, John Moore and Robert Turner completed the top five. Cook was off all day in practice and qualified a dismal 10th in the 15 car field. Were the illegal spindles he had got DQ'd for a week earlier really the key? We would soon find out.

The top four were inverted to start the race putting John Moore in top spot with Beggarly to his outside. After a brief pause for Elliott Jewel blowing up taking the green, we were racing. Moore and Beggarly pull away quickly, with Robert Turner all over Godley for the third spot. Godley had been good all day, but from the drop of the green flag he just had the handle go away and fell to the back rather quickly.

Moore has been limited in his racing this year, as motor problems at the first of the season cut back on his schedule as they are on a limited budget. But he was back with new power from Ravon Clark, and wanted to go out on a high note heading into Martinsville. Beggarly would let his happiness be short lived, as he would blow by on lap four and set sail, he really had the track in his hand on this night.

It wasn't until lap ten when the tracks two stars, Rumley and Cook started showing their muscle. Turner had got by Moore for second, and Rumley was quite a ways back, but made the ground up in no time pulling up to the bumper of Moore. Behind him, seemingly from out of nowhere, Cook pops out in the fifth spot, but nearly a full 20 cars behind Rumley. As fast as Rumley had caught Moore for third, it seemed he would blow right by, that was not the case. Lap after lap he hounded him, all the while Cook was reeling both of them in quickly.

As we get to lap 24, Rumley has been on Moore's bumper for almost 15 laps now, and cook has finally caught the both of them. The crowd comes to their feet as Cook dives even deeper in the corner to get closer, the next lap he was going to be within striking distance, but for what? Was he going for the pass, or going to drive thru his arch rival to put an exclamation point on the fued for the season? We'll never know, as the caution waved a lap later as they approached turn three, Brad Kurth had scrubed the wall down the backstretch. The adrenaline felt by the fans and the teams on pit road came to a crashing halt, as everyone knew this is what the season had come down to, and it all was over in the wave of the yellow flag.

With the choose rule for the restarts we all knew what was going to happen next, Cook jumps to the outside of Beggarly to go green with Rumley still back in fourth. Beggarly has become the master of restarts this year and did it again as he pulled away with Cook and Turner going door to door for second. Rumley gets punted from behind and gets out of the groove falling back to just inside the top ten as cars fly by. Turner would hold off Cook and brought John Moore with him to the inside, putting Cook back to fourth, but that would be short lived.

Cook would move back around Moore for third on lap 30, but Beggarly and Turner had distanced themselves fromt he rest of the field. As we get to the halfway point of the 100 lapper, the bigest battles are between the fast-closing Cook on Turner for second, and the dogfight between Moore, Scotty Warren and Rumley for 4th, 5th and 6th. Rumley would finally get by Warren and Moore after some rubbed sheet metal, with Moore falling all the way back to fifth in the process. Cook looked to be on a mission up front, and wasted no time with Turner after giving him a few love taps, he booted the #13 of Turner high and made the pass and set his sights on Beggarly.

Cook was looking to make a statement, after being called a cheater for his illegal spindles, or as Cook puts it "They are illegal depending on who you ask", he wanted to win. He began chasing Beggalry down at a torrid pace, but when he got to within 20 car-lengths, the progression stopped. It was as if Beggarly looked in his mirror and said, "Well, that's as close as your getting". Beggarly showed why he is labeled as one of the best ever in a Late Model late in the race as the leaders got into heavy lapped traffic, it looked to be a chance for Cook to catch up, but Beggarly carved through them like a knife.

Behind them Rumley and Warren had walked down Turner, and Rumley would get the spot at the end with Warren just picking up fourth over Turner on the last lap. But up front amid all the controversy that was supposed to happen on this night was Beggarly, who now had three wins in a row to end the season, with this one being his most dominant to date. The legend had found his groove at the end of the season, and for many old-school fans it was 1994 all over again, a time when Beggarly was rarely ever beaten.

Rumley would be crowned the champion, but not after jabs from second place finisher Cook on the PA claiming he was the real champion, and Rumley firing back that Cook won a few battles but he won the war. The fact is that both drivers are deserving of being champion, they are the two best at the Altamahaw NC track, and the dislike for one another has pushed them to their limits, in patience and performance.

One thing is for sure, it's doubtful that they will make up in the offseason, making the 2011 season look that much better. Late Model racing has become to whitewashed, to PC, rivalries are not often seen anymore, and every year at Ace Speedway, it seems they have the fiercest ones, and in turn the best racing. Thanks to all the drivers in the Late Model division at Ace in 2010, you have gave your all and gave the fans what they wanted all year long, it's been one hell of a ride.
 
Results:
1 - Barry Beggarly
2 - Rodney Cook
3 - Dustin Rumley
4 - Scotty Warren
5 - Robert Turner
6 - Bobby Griffin
7 - Jason Payne
8 - Dean Fogleman
9 - John Moore
10 - Chris Comstock
11 - Matthew Godley
12 - Mike Chambers
13 - Brad Kurth
14 - Elliott Jewell
15 - Jason Turner