LAS VEGAS (October 22, 2010) - Electrifying the crowd of 13,477 at the Thomas & Mack Center, Valdiron de Oliveira and Ned Cross finished first and second in Round 2 of the 2010 Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough World Finals.
Oliveira rode Spit Fire (Boyd/Floyd Bull Company) for 91.5 points to narrowly edge Cross, who scored 91 points on Black Pearl (Ravenscroft / Boyd-Floyd Bull Co.). Cross moved into the World Finals event lead with 178.75 points.
Round 3 will be at 6 p.m. on Friday, and tickets are still available at the Thomas & Mack Center box office, online at www.unlvtickets.com and by telephone at 866-PBR-SHOW. The Finals are televised on VERSUS at 9 p.m. ET on Friday and Saturday, and on NBC at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday.
The race for the World Championship and $1 million tightened again as third-ranked Renato Nunes climbed 339 points closer to top-ranked Austin Meier of Kinta, Okla., and second-ranked J.B. Mauney of Mooresville, N.C. Nunes, of Buritama, Brazil, is now 281.5 points behind Mauney and 608.25 points behind Meier.
Nunes rode Chicken on a Chain (Robinson/Tedesco/Larry the Cable Guy) for 89 points to finish fourth in the round and move into second in the average with 178 points. It is the third time in 2010 that he has ridden the bull. In 2008 at St. Louis, Nunes posted his personal best and tied for the 11th highest score in PBR history with 95.75 points on the massive bull.
It was the second time this year that Oliveira has ridden Spit Fire, who bucked off 10 riders in a row since being ridden for 92.25 points at Oklahoma City.
Major Payne (Robinson/Katich/Pinnacle Bull Group) took the lead in the race for World Champion Bull after scoring 45.5 points by bucking off Cody Campbell (Summerville, Ore.) in 2.3 seconds. With 45.25 points, Bones (Teague Bucking Bulls, LLC) is in a tie for second place with Bushwacker (Julio Moreno/Richard Oliveira) after shedding Mauney in 4.0 seconds. Bushwacker dumped Harve Stewart in Round 1 on Wednesday.
After suffering a sprained left shoulder and bruised his left elbow and knee while being bucked off Soul Train (D&H Cattle Company), two-time PBR World Champion Chris Shivers of Jonesville, La. took advantage of a re-ride and scored 88.25 points on Mission Accomplished (4L & Diamond S Rodeo Company) to finish fifth in the round.
For more information on the 2010 World Finals, please visit www.pbr.com.
The 2010 PBR World Champion will be the rider with the most Built Ford Tough Series points accumulated during the regular season and the World Finals. There are a potential 5,000 points remaining at the World Finals, so any one of the Top 10 riders still has the opportunity to win the title.
The Finals consist of six rounds of competition. The first five rounds feature all of the riders matched against the toughest bulls. The scores from the five rides will be combined, and the Top 15 riders will advance for an additional round of competition, following the completion of Round 5 on Sunday, Oct. 24.
Injury Report: Chris Shivers is probable with bruised left shoulder, elbow and knee. Cody Campbell is probable with a sprained right shoulder. Kasey Hayes is probable with a sprained right wrist. Stormy Wing is probable with a bruised left shoulder. Ben Jones is probable with a lacerated right ear and mouth.
2010 Built Ford Tough World Finals at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas
PBR World Finals Event Leaders
1. Ned Cross, Midland, Ore., 178.75 points
2. Renato Nunes, Buritama, Brazil, 178 points
3. Dustin Elliott, North Platte, Neb., 176.25 points
4. Wesley Lourenco, Santo Antonio da Barra, Brazil, 175 points
5. Aaron Roy, Asquith, Saskatchewan, 173.75 points
Round 2, Oct. 21
A – 13, 477
1. Valdiron de Oliveira, Aparecida de Goiania, Brazil, 91.5 points on Spit Fire (Boyd/Floyd Bull Company).
2. Ned Cross, Midland, Ore., 91 points on Black Pearl (Ravenscroft / Boyd-Floyd Bull Co.).
3. Wesley Lourenco, Santo Antonio da Barra, Brazil, 89.5 points on Red Hot (Big Country).
4. Renato Nunes, Buritama, Brazil, 89 points on Chicken on a Chain (Robinson/Tedesco/Larry the Cable Guy).
5. Chris Shivers, Jonesville, La., 88.25 points on Mission Accomplished (4L & Diamond S Rodeo Company).
Round 1, Oct. 20
A – 9,127
1. Dustin Elliott, North Platte, Neb., 89.25 points on Hee Bee Gee Bee (Boyd/Floyd Bull Company).
2. Renato Nunes, Buritama, Brazil, 89 points on Pit Boss (Ace of Spades Ranch).
3. Beau Hill, West Glacier, Mont., 88.75 points on Flirting with Disaster (Hart Cattle Co/Switchouse Ranch/Plummer).
4. Douglas Duncan, Alvin, Texas, 88.5 points on Copp Hou (Lightning C Cattle Company).
5. Pete Farley, 88.25 points on Wish This (Don Kish Bucking Bulls).
2010 World Standings
1. Austin Meier, Kinta, Okla., 10,977.25 points.
2. J.B. Mauney, Mooresville, N.C., 10,650.5 points.
3. Renato Nunes, Buritama, Brazil, 10,369 points.
4. Valdiron de Oliveira, Aparecida de Goiania, 9,883.25 points.
5. Ryan McConnel, Coalgate, Okla., 8,480 points.
2010 World Champion Bull Contenders
1. Major Payne (Robinson/Katich/Pinnacle Bull Group), 45.5 points
2. Bones (Teague Bucking Bulls, LLC), 45.25 points.
Bushwacker (Julio Moreno/Richard Oliveira), 45.25 points
4. Uncle Buck (Jeff Robinson/Cappello/Teague), 45 points
5. Highway 12 (Robinson/Mesa), 44 points.
Chicken on a Chain (Robinson/Tedesco/Larry the Cable Guy), 44 points.
7. Big Tex (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve), 43.8 points.
8. Voodoo Child Robinson/Beutler/McNeely), 43.5 points
About the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR)
The PBR is the world’s premier bull riding organization. More than 100 million viewers annually watch over 400 hours of primetime PBR programming on VERSUS, NBC, CBS and networks around the world. The PBR has awarded over $100 million in prize money and 20 riders have earned over $1 million including Justin McBride with $5.5 million, the most of any western-sports athlete in history. The PBR was nominated as 2010 Sports League of the Year at the Sports Business Journal Sports Business Awards alongside the National Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. Nearly two million fans attend elite Built Ford Tough Series and Touring Pro Division events each year. For more information on the PBR, go to www.pbr.com, or follow on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TeamPBR and http://twitter.com/TEAMPBR.
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