LAS VEGAS (October 21, 2010) - Brendon Clark was at last year’s Built Ford Tough World Finals … as a spectator. He was back in the chutes Wednesday night.
Clark got his seventh World Finals appearance off to a good start with an 84 on the quick-moving Shippy Rodeo Bulls’ Shadow Shaker. It wasn’t enough to earn a paycheck, but it gives him a foundation to build upon as he goes for the Finals event title.
“That’s what I’m shooting for,” Clark said.
The score was not without some extra effort on the Aussie’s part.
At 5 seconds in, he lost the handle of his rope. “All I had was me tail in my hand,” he said. By leaning forward, he was able to take some of the weight off of it, and gut out the final 3 seconds.
Clark was on fire in June and July when he won four straight Touring Pro Division contests. He added a victory in Canada and then celebrated his 30th birthday weekend with a Built Ford Tough win in Charlottesville, Va., last month. He’s still riding the momentum from his third Cup Series victory.
“Absolutely, that was a big confidence booster for me,” Clark said. “I definitely needed that one. I feel like the confidence I got out of that can continue on. I won six PBR events this year, so I was pretty happy with that. Some people win maybe one or two a year, so I feel happy with the way that it’s all gone.”
Clark’s 2009 season did not end in Las Vegas largely because of the injuries he sustained that April in Omaha, Neb., when he was stepped on by a bull. His injuries included a lacerated liver, contusions on both lungs and broken ribs. He spent three days in a hospital and missed the next four months. The main thing he’s been contending with lately is an injured right (riding) hand. It was bothering him so much in Charlottesville that he was excused from signing autographs for fans after the event.
Clark, who also lives in Coalinga, Calif., doesn’t take qualifying for the Finals for granted. He realizes how tough the competition is and how tough it is to be among the best 40 riders in the world.
“You understand that it’s not a gimme and you have to be willing to work at it,” said Clark, who qualified for every Finals from 2003-08. “And the older you get, the more you have to look out for your body. I feel really good. I’ve been working out, been stretching more, and the only thing that’s been hurting on me is my hand. That’s never going to go away, but yeah, you definitely appreciate this a little bit more when you have a setback like not making the Finals.
“This year, I pretty much achieved everything I set to do.”
Clark, a prolific user of social media, is streaming his online talk show all this week. To watch live or to access archived shows, log ontowww.ustream.tv and type “Brendon Clark Show” in the search box. He encourages fans to email questions for the show by contacting him through his Facebook page, which is where he’ll also announce daily show times and guests. Clark’s guest on today’s show will be Justin McBride.
Clark also has his own website, andcan be followed on Twitter: @brendonclark80.
NEWS & NOTES
PISTOLERO NOT ONLY SMASHED SKEETER KINGSOLVER up against the slide gate Wednesday before the chute opened, he also smacked his right horn up against someone on the chute deck. That person was none other than Austin Meier’s father, Rex.
ROUND 1 WAS THE FIRST Finals round in history to be held on a Wednesday.
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