LAS VEGAS (October 23, 2010) - Austin Meier admitted that his trip on Secretary of Soul wasn’t pretty. In fact, he went so far as to say it was about as ugly a ride as he’s ever made, but Jody Newberry quickly put it all into perspective.
“Yeah, but it was 8 seconds of ugly,” he said.
Meier, who still trails Renato Nunes by two bull scores in the average at the 2010 PBR World Finals, needed to make his second qualified ride to have any chance of winning this year’s world title.
“It wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t fancy,” Meier said. “It was just getting the job done the best way I could at the moment.”
It was a critical 76.75-point ride, because it gives Meier the 12 pick in the bull draft for the fifth and final long round, and moves him from 32nd in the average to 20th.
Nunes scored 89 points to split third, fourth, fifth and in the round withChris Shivers, Sean Willingham and Pete Farley.
Nunes, who is 2-for-3 on SoulJa Boy, now overtakes Meier in the world standings by 118.25 points.
Afterward, Nunes seemed motivated by Meier’s gutty 8-second ride. “He proved today how strong he is, how much he wants to be a World Champion, and that is important in bull riding,” Nunes said.
“You need to keep your hand shut and try hard to make the whistle.”
Meier is 11.5 points out of the Top 15 in the average, and will have to ride his bull in Round 5 to have any chance of pushing Nunes on Sunday afternoon.
Nunes is the only rider to have covered all four of his bulls. At this point, he’s guaranteed a place in the short round, and has all but assured himself of a Top 10 finish in the Finals average.
“This whole weekend here I’ve been giving it everything I’ve got,” said Meier, who knows his back is against the wall after coming down early in Rounds 2 and 3. “The last couple nights it hasn’t worked out, but tonight it worked out. I had to make it work out, and sometimes you have to make things happen.
“As long as I do my best, wherever I come out in the world standings, it is what it is.”
“I don’t care if I get run over, stomped on, whatever – I don’t care,” he continued. “If I can make the eight, I’m going to do my best to do it. I didn’t care where I was at as long as I heard the whistle blow before I hit the ground.”
MEDICAL UPDATE: Robson Palermo, who won the round with a 90.5 on Hustlin, fell directly on his head on the dismount. He has a possible fractured neck and has been taken to UMC Trauma Center for X-rays. He is doubtful for Round 5. Reigning World Champion Kody Lostroh, who came down for the fourth time, is out of competition with a concussion.
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