Story by: Corey Latham — [email protected]
Altamahaw, NC ~ Ace Speedway is gearing up for opening night this week, as the dreaded “R” word put a halt to the schedule last weekend. As in our earlier story, the management is new and exciting ideas are being brainstormed at the track, a new era if you will.
Aside from the behind the scenes activities, the real action we have been waiting for has arrived. The Late-Model division is ready to go to war once again, and the championship battle is shaping up once again to be thrilling. A cagey veteran, the sentimental favorite and defending champion, and a new rookie are all ready to become the “top dogs” of Ace’s premiere division.
Last years Cinderella story, Dean Fogleman, will be back once again to defend his championship. Fogleman won by a slight 2 points in one of the narrowest margins ever seen in the Late-Model ranks. Dean will be coming back this year to defend his title, and he’s just as laid back as he was last year winning his first race and the title in the same year.
“I’ll be back to defend, with us being a low-budget team and money tight as it is, you can’t beat racing over there”, said the defending champ. “I’ve been driving since 1990, and last year it all finally came together. Last year everybody was fussing and fighting, and I just kinda stayed under the radar. This year we have a great built motor from Darrell Poe and when we tested last week we were a few tenths quicker than we were all last year.”
Speedy Faucette was the most dominant car in 2008, winning an astonishing 12 races only to come up just short in the championship battle. The point battle between Faucette and Fogleman wasn’t without controversy, but Faucette is ready to put all that behind him and come back to dominate again.
“I guess well be over there again”, says the calm spoken Faucette. “It’s one of the cheapest tracks to run and I seem to have that place figured out.” When asked about the fiasco that occurred last year with the officiating, Speedy remains optimistic. “They have new management, and they have some great ideas on how to make the track strive. Last year was last year, you can’t dwell on that, you have to go and do what you need to get the job done”.
When asked about the competition this year, Speedy has no worries in that department either. “It doesn’t matter to me at all, the more the merrier. I have no idea if they are doing the invert this year, so I’ll just start where they tell me and drive to the front. All these guys are spending crazy amounts of money buying new cars every year, my chassis is 13 years old and it’s won 18 races in the past 2 years. It all just comes down to how much you want to work on it. I grew up at Ace, I want it to succeed, the best thing they have done is kept the 2 tire rule and as long as they go by the NASCAR rule book everything will be just fine”.
The newcomer to the track this year and one that drivers we are keeping an eye on is young 17 year-old rookie, Ryan Wilson. Ryan may be a rookie this year at Ace, but he’s no stranger to the Late Model ranks or racing in general for that matter. After coming up through the go-cart ranks, the youngster graduated up to the Supertruck division, then the Limited Late Models, and finally last year he ran his first full season in the Late-Model division. And, he wasn’t just there to ride as the talented youngster from Asheboro, NC came home 3rd in the points at Caraway Speedway picking up his first career win along the way.
Ryan comes to Ace having only practiced there one time, but has a new Kirk Bryant chassis and is ready to give the veterans a run for their money.
“We’ve got a brand new car and one that was built last year. Kirk is my crew-chief and my uncle so I’m able to learn quite a bit as I go. Donnie Apple came over last week with us testing and he brings in a wealth of knowledge also. I just hope I can run with those guys.”
Ryan makes it be known that track experience is the key thing this year as he goes for the points championship.
“I’ll be running for the championship at Ace and Caraway, and running 2 nights a week is really going to help my learning curve” said the 17 year-old. “Donnie was a big help over at Ace last week, just getting me to know how the car should feel there and showing me the line helped me tremendously. We’re going to venture out on the off nights, and we’ll be at all the big races at the end of the season, hopefully what I’ve learned throughout the year and just getting all the extra seat time will put us up front on a constant basis. My goals for the year are to win the track championship at both tracks, win lots of races and poles, and be the Rookie of The Year at Ace.”
The battle looks to be fierce at the 4/10’s mile track, and those aren’t the only drivers gunning for the championship. Other drivers such as RD Smith, Bobby Griffin, and Late-Model newcomer Thomas Scott who is moving up from the modifieds are all going to be a force. Sprinkle in frequent appearances by Frank Deiny Jr., Rodney Cook and a few new teams making their debut this year and picking a winner will be as tough as ever.
