Gindac Ciprian Gabriel wins second Rack Race Stop (#7) at Rack & Grill III in Aiken, SC

Gindac Ciprian Gabriel

Over the last three Rack Race events, Romania’s Gindac Ciprian Gabriel has battled for the hot seat and the event title, twice. At Rack Race stop #5 (March 14-15), he downed Josh Roberts in the hot seat and after losing the opening set of the final, came back to defeat him in the second set. At Stop #6 (April 5), he lost the hot seat battle to Roberts, double hill and then lost to Johnny Archer in the semifinals (Roberts won the two-set final). This past weekend (Sat. Apr. 19) at Stop #7, in the absence of both Roberts and Archer, Gabriel lost a winners’ side semifinal and came back to double-dip Marty Free in the two-set final to claim his second Rack Race title. 

Back in March, when we first reported on Gabriel, we made mention of the fact that Rack Race Stop #5 was not only his first-known (to us) US title, but his first ‘major’ win anywhere. It would appear that Gabriel has developed a sense of in armonie (the Romanian equivalent of the Spanish simpatico) for the Rack Race, or its Rack & Grill locations. Or both. It likely did not come as a much of a surprise to anyone that as the highest FargoRated competitor at Stop #7, he won it. It may have come as a bit of a surprise that he was defeated by a 609 (James Council) in a winners’ side semifinal, but the world shifted back to its normal axis when he shut Council out in their semifinal rematch. The $1,000-added event drew 37 entrants to Rack & Grill III in Aiken, SC.

The surprise of his double-hill loss to Council was preceded (possibly doubled) by his first three matches in which he gave up just a single rack, shutting out Peter Faulkner and Florean Constantin and for a change of pace, giving up the single rack to Sam Cantey in the middle. At which point, Council stepped up to the table to play in one of the winners’ side semifinals.

From the other end of the bracket, Marty Free was working his way to the hot seat. He gave up 12 racks in his first three; two in his opening match against Roy Whetzel, four to Randy Flake in a winners’ side quarterfinal and six to Dominic Peterson in a double-hill, winners’ side quarterfinal representing his change of pace in the middle. Free drew Richard Kilgore in the other winners’ side semifinal.

Council battled Gabriel to double hill before sending him off on his three-match, loss-side journey, while Free downed Kilgore 7-3. Free claimed the hot seat 7-4 and waited on the return of Gabriel.

On the loss side, Jim Jennings was moving along pretty well, following his winners’ side quarterfinal loss to Kilgore (4-7). He had given up one rack each to David Shipman and Randy Flakes before he drew Gabriel, coming over from his loss to Council. Kilgore came over and picked up a rematch against Tracy Prescott, whom he’d defeated in the third, winners’ side round. Prescott won four straight on the loss side, giving up a total of only six racks in 26 games, which had recently eliminated Jimmy Lee (1) and Constantin (2).

Gabriel gave Jennings a taste of his own 5-1, loss-side ‘medicine,’ defeating him by that score and advancing to the quarterfinals. Kilgore joined him after eliminating Prescott 5-2. Gabriel gave up just another ‘1’ to Kilgore in those quarterfinals and advanced to his rematch semifinal against Council. 

Pool is . . . a funny kind of game. Not ‘lol’ funny, but odd in the way that FargoRates, talk about momentum and the effects of early a.m. matches don’t explain adequately. It was after 1 a.m. on Sunday morning, when Gabriel and Council squared off a second time. Been a long day for both of them. One had previously added two extra matches to the other’s day, so there was that. The other one was looking to add to his already-successful appearances, to include a third-place finish in the two previous Rack Race events. It might have been Gabriel’s determination not to be third this time. It might have been that Council’s ‘game car’ just ran out of gas. Gabriel shut him out for a necessary, double shot at Free in the finals.

Now after 2 a.m., the final got underway and wouldn’t you know it? Both anxious not to have to do it twice, Gabriel and Free battled to double hill in the opening set, finishing up around 3:30 and with Gabriel’s win, moving on to a second set, a reduced race to 5. Gabriel gave up just a single rack in that second set and claimed the title to the 3^rd Annual Rack Race’s Stop #7.

The next stop (#8; of 15) on the Rack Race series, scheduled for Saturday, May 3, will be a $2,000-added event, hosted by Rack & Grill II in Augusta, GA.

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