Johnny Archer
Rack Race #12 had some competition this past weekend (July 5-6). Some three hours away from Rack & Grill II in Augusta, GA (in a crow-flies straight line, closer to four hours on roads), the 13th Annual NC State Open 9-Ball championships in Clemmons, NC had a way of siphoning off some of the competitors who might otherwise have shown up to compete in Rack Race #12; Josh Roberts, Mike Davis, Jr., “Guama” Sanchez and Tommy Kennedy among them. In the absence of them (and others, and definitely not because of their absence), Johnny Archer went undefeated to claim the $1,000-added, Stop #12 title which drew 27 entrants to Rack & Grill II.
Archer and runner-up Jason Stemen, who faced each other twice in this event (hot seat match and final) had faced each other during Stop #6 on the Rack Race back in April. Archer had sent Stemen to the loss side, advanced to and then lost the hot seat match to Josh Roberts. Stemen advanced to the quarterfinal on the loss side, but missed a second chance at Archer in the semifinals when he lost that quarterfinal match. Archer won the semifinal, but Roberts claimed that individual event title.
Archer and Stemen started out from opposite ends of the 32-player Stop #12 bracket, which dictated that if they were to meet at all on the winners’ side of that bracket, it was going to be in the hot seat match. In straight-up races to 7, three of Archer’s first four opponents failed to chalk up more than 2 racks against him. He arrived to compete in the hot seat match with an aggregate game score of 28-9 (75%). Before it was over, that aggregate game score would be 42-17 (71%); Stemen adding eight racks-against versus Archer in the hot seat match and final.
Archer opened with two 7-2 wins over Billy Holmes and Thad Conner, before George Spires chalked up four against him in a winners’ side quarterfinal. Archer advanced to pick up Doug Cogdell in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Stemen began with a shutout over Darrel Williams, 7-2 victories over Ian Jones and Ed Wachs and then drew Calvin Le in the other winners’ side semifinal. At this stage, Stemen boasted an aggregate game score better than Archer’s; 28-7 (80%), thanks to the opening-round shutout.
Archer allowed Cogdell just a single rack and advanced to the hot seat match. Stemen gave up three to Le and joined him. Stemen got as close to Archer’s score as anybody had gotten so far, chalking up five to make it an almost-double-hill battle before Archer closed it out.
Cogdell moved to the loss side and picked up Tracy Prescott, who’s currently #1 on the Rack Race ‘points’ list, vying for extra cash, over and above payout amounts, at the end of the Rack Race season, three stops away ($1,000 for first place, $500 for second). Prescott had lost a match to Le in the second round (4-7) and defeated Lesley Avauz 5-3 and Thad Conner 5-2 to meet up with Cogdell. Le picked up Mike Wise (the 2024 Rack Race’s ‘points champion’), who’d lost to Cogdell 4-7 in the third round and went on to defeat Bobby Chase 5-3 and George Spires 5-2 on the loss side.
Wise eliminated Le 5-2 and moved on to the quarterfinals. By that time, Cogdell had survived a double-hill match against Prescott and joined Wise for their rematch. In his second straight double-hill match, Cogdell couldn’t stop Wise from avenging their earlier loss.
Wise came out on the wrong end of his second straight, double-hill match, as Stenem earned himself a second shot against Archer, waiting for him in the hot seat. Archer completed his undefeated run with 7-3 victory over Stenem in the finals.
Tour director and owner of the Rack & Grill locations hosting the Rack Race, Michael Newsome, thanked the competitors who competed, along with Diamond Billiard Products, DigitalPool.com, Newsome Distributing, Salazar (CPA), JTs Automotive Group, Predator Cues, Simonis Cloth and Cue & Case.
The next stop on the Rack Rack (#13) is scheduled for Saturday, July 19 at Rack & Grill III in Aiken, SC. On August 2, Rack Race Stop #14 will shift to Rack & Grill II in Augusta, GA. The final event of the season, a $24,500-added event scheduled for August 14-17, will be back at Rack & Grill III.
