Story by: Corey Latham —[email protected]
Altamahaw, NC(April 3, 2009) — In 2008 at Ace Speedway, Speedy Faucette was the man to beat. If you went there to race, 90% of the season you were racing for second on back if you tried your hand in the Late-Model division. 2009 is a new year and as most people say…..a new year brings changes. Ace has changed a lot, new management, new teams, but the loyal fans witnessed something they have seen before, Speedy Faucette taking the win.
Early in the day, practice went off without a hitch. Teams must have been holding back, because qualifying was much different. All the cars that took time complained that the track was so loose they could hardly drive it, and after numerous spins, Brad Kurth managed to find the outside wall in turn one. The culprit…..a combination of a slight film of oil and weepers from the previous days of rain made turn 3 and 4 downright treacherous. But, even though he was one of the ones that almost lost it, Faucette was able to lock up the Bud Pole, with a familiar face to his outside … another master at Ace, Rodney Cook.
The feud between Faucette and Cook goes back to last year and going into Friday night there was still no love loss. As the green waved, all eyes were up front, as the two rivals barreled into turn one. Cook would get the hole shot, but it would be short lived. Faucette would take the lead back on lap 2, and bring RD Smith with him. But the Cook/Faucette battle was far from over.
Back in the pack, there was racing everywhere, and most of it centered around the battered car of Kurth. Brad was able to repair his lower right front suspension damage and start shotgun on the field. Kurth, reigning champ Dean Fogleman, Jerry Scott and Bobby Griffin were all in a very tight battle with fenders rubbing every lap. Griffin and Fogleman would do more than rub with Kurth later on in the evening.
Back up front, Cook had disposed of Smith on lap 18, and had his sights on Faucette for the lead. For the next 50 laps, lap after lap, Faucette’s rear wheels were lifted off the ground over and over, Cook wanted the lead and Faucette didn’t want to give it up. As they fought tooth and nail, there was one other car that was right with them, Dustin Rumley. Rumley never let the leaders get away and for much of the night it was a three car race up front.
Meanwhile…..Brad Kurth was busy making friends. Kurth and Bobby Griffin were locked in a fierce battle for a spot just inside the top ten, when contact was made and Griffin made hard contact with the outside wall in turn 2 ending his night. As the cars rode under caution, Griffin picked up his bumper cover that was knocked off during the accident, and tried to throw it into Kurth’s car. Griffin was not happy to say the least.
“He flat out wrecked me, I got by him and he just plain turned me. He’s a idiot and you can print that,” said an angry Griffin following the contact. Griffin had planned to make the trip to South Boston Speedway on Saturday night, but the damage may have helped to change the teams plans.
The laps were winding down and after a late caution, it was time for a green-white-checkered finish. About 4 times we tried this, and after numerous spins, Kurth and Dean Fogleman provide more excitement. The two tangled off turn 2, and on the restart Fogleman slammed into the side of Kurth taking Jerry Scott with them, destroying the Scott machine.
As all the carnage was going on out back, up front things were getting lively too. RD Smith, who had been a factor early in the race, dropped out with a broken brake caliper, leaving the battle for the win between three cars, Faucette, Cook and Dustin Rumley. Cook began to fade and Rumley pounced on the opportunity and took home the second spot. There was no time to get to Faucette, who came in to 2009 the same way he finished last year, in the winners circle.
If tonight was any indication of things to come, Ace is going to be a barn burner each week. Check back later as we have driver reactions and numerous tidbits from opening night.
Results:
1 – Speedy Faucette #37
2 – Dustin Rumley #88
3 – Rodney Cook #14
4 – Jason Payne #9
5 – Ryan Wilson #12
6 – Kevin Parker #10
7 – Dean Fogleman #71
8 – Brad Kurth #9
9 – Jerry Scott #8
10 – John Moore #4
11 – Jonathan Barcena #22
12 – Bobby Griffin #70
13 – RD Smith #16
14 – Anthony Burr #34
