World Champion Mike Lee Wins Boss Hoss Sonny Williams Classic

By Chris McManes

Mike Lee’s 85-point ride in the championship round of the Boss Hoss Cycles $25,000 PBR Sonny Williams Classic spurred him to a $10,526 victory in a Professional Bull Riders Enterprise Rent-A-Car Tour event on Saturday, July 29.

Lee, the PBR’s 2004 world champion from Decatur , Texas , stayed atop Williams’ bull Vegas on the final ride at the J Bar W Ranch in Johnsville , Md. It was Lee’s maiden voyage on Vegas, which competed at the 2002 PBR World Finals.

“He’s been bucking well for a while,” Lee said. “The first two jumps he was pretty strong; he had me a little late going to the right, but I didn’t panic. I tried to stay in front.”

Lee’s short-go performance enabled him to slip past Nick Landreneau of Sulphur , La. , by a point, 172-171. Landreneau, who had taken the lead with a round-winning 85.5-pointer on Williams’ Kryptonite, won $7,040.

“That bull was moving forward, kind of trying to get me on my butt, and I just kept having to kick loose and get around there,” Landreneau said. “I was hanging on till I heard the whistle.”

David Cochran of New Caney, Texas , placed third (162 points) and earned $3,379. He, Lee and Landreneau were the only three cowboys to make two qualified rides.

Tater Porter of Kenansville, Fla. , was fourth and took home $4,716. He shared first-round honors with Lee when he covered Russ Gant’s Dirt for Dinner for 87 points. Lee’s effort came aboard Cary McNeil’s Dismal Swamp Jack.

In the American Bucking Bull, Inc. (ABBI) Classic event for 3- and 4-year-old bulls -- held within the first round of the Sonny Williams Classic -- Travis Jones and Wally Barnette’s Encore scored 88.75 points and won $2,567. Wally World, owned by Jones, Barnett and Roy Carter, won $1,467 with an 87-point marking, and Dismal Swamp Jack placed third with 86.25 points to collect $1,100.

Williams’ Superman tied Jones and Barnette’s Fort Knox with 86 points for fourth place. The bulls won $848 each.

Previous Sonny Williams Classic winners include 2004 champion Everett Erickson of Hornitos, Calif. , and 2005 titleist Paulo Crimber of Sao Paulo , Brazil . Erickson missed this year’s event with a broken neck, and Crimber placed sixth.

NOTES – Two-time PBR world champion Adriano Moraes was scheduled to compete, but chose to rest his injured groin. A Brazil native who also lives in Tyler , Texas , Moraes delighted fans by signing autographs and posing for photos. … Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich attended the event and addressed the crowd.