Robbie Shelley and Josh Roberts
BCA 2018 Hall of Famer Kim Davenport enters the race
As if the assembled competitors at the 11th stop on the Rack Race didn’t have enough on their minds with the six-time winner of the 2024 Race on-hand to compete for his seventh win. This time out (Sat., June 15), they had Kim Davenport, the BCA’s Hall of Fame inductee in 2018, to think about. And make them think twice, he did, as the Hall of Famer went undefeated to a winners’ side semifinal and on the loss side, advanced to the event semifinals. Those who thought that in spite of Davenport, Roberts was the man to watch, weren’t disappointed as he defeated Davenport in that winners’ side semifinal and downed Robbie Shelley twice to win that 7th Rack Race title. The $1,000-added event drew 44 entrants to Rack & Grill III in Aiken, SC.
Going into the event, Roberts was well on his way to making 2024 his second-best recorded earnings year since he began the recorded process here at AZBilliards in 2007. His best year, to date, was 2022 when he climbed to #22 on the AZBilliards Money Leaderboard. His second-best total occurred in 2021, when he reached #29. His current 2024 total puts him more than halfway toward lowering 2021’s total to third place on the list. His Rack Race accomplishments – seven current wins, one 4th place finish and a win at a Banks Mini tournament (not affiliated with the main event Rack Race during Stop #9 back in May) – have contributed to about 63% of his current 2024 earnings.
Roberts got off to a good start, winning 18 of his first 24 games, sending Tracy Prescott (2), Charles Jones (1) and George Spires (3) to the loss side, then joining the crowd of folks thinking about Kim Davenport as he drew him in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Davenport, after an opening-round bye, had won three straight, double-hill battles against Jimmy Lee, Billy Holmes, and Justin Clark for his first, and as it turned out, only shot against Roberts. From the opposite end of the bracket, headed for the hot seat match, Shelley downed Robert Nottingham (2), Calvin Le (4), shut out Allen French and survived a double-hill match versus Ricky Baugham to draw James Council in the other winners’ side semifinal.
It was Davenport’s fourth straight, double-hill match and he lost it to Roberts, who advanced to the hot seat match. Shelley almost battled to double hill, but in the end, edged out in front of Council to win 6-4 and join Roberts. Roberts gave up just a single rack in his first of two versus Shelley and claimed the hot seat.
On the loss side, Davenport picked up Richard Kolgore, who’d lost his third-round match to Spires and won four straight, to include the elimination of Jamie Huggins 5-1 and Jason Finley 5-2. Council drew Ian Jones, who’d also won four in a row, eliminating (among others) Spires 5-3 and Justin Clark 5-2.
Davenport advanced to the quarterfinals 5-2 over Kolgore and was joined by Jones, who lengthened his loss-side trip by one (to five), defeating Council 5-2. By the same score, Davenport ended Jones’ bid for more and walked right into his fifth double-hill match, this time versus Shelley in the semifinals.
With all due respect to Robbie Shelley, there were quite a few folks ‘in the house’ who were rooting for Davenport to earn a second shot against Roberts. Didn’t happen, as it was Shelley who came out on top in Davenport’s fifth, double-hill match.
Shelley might have learned something in his earlier loss to Roberts and his double-hill victory over Davenport in the semifinals. Unlike his one-rack showing in the hot seat match, Shelley put up more of a fight against Roberts the second time around. He fell just a game short of double hill, before Roberts got out in front to win it 6-4 and claim his seventh Rack Race title of the year.
Tour director and Rack & Grill III owner Mike Newsome and NO-BS Billiards thanked The Rack & Grill III staff for their work at keeping things running smoothly for the competitors, as well as sponsors Newsome Distributing, National Billiards Academy, Salazar CPA, JTs Automotive Group, GFL Environmental, Filta Environmental Kitchen Solutions, Predator, Iwan Simonis, PEPSI and digitalpool brackets. The next stop on the Rack Race (#12), scheduled for Saturday, July 6, will be hosted by Rack & Grill II in Augusta, GA.
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