The second weekend of action kicked off Thursday night at the Thomas and Mack and a new wave of fans has not been a hard find.
Tonight’s crowd hovered around 12,000 and this weekend the PBR will crown a one million dollar champion in the world finals. The check hasn't been written out yet but Guilherme Marchi is doing what he can to win it.
However, the Brazilian is having to ride his best because there is an American bullrider from North Carolina that is trying to grab a buckle at the end of this two week period. The bullrider has won three of the first four rounds and is no stranger to the confines of the Thomas and Mack. If you remember two years ago, he won the Daisy Rookie of the Year and last year finished third in the world. For a guy coming from a hotbed of Nascar and Tarheel college basketball, J.B. Mauney is wishing his season had gone a little better for him earlier in the year because at this rate he's starting to resemble Justin McBride and the way he's riding you could just stop the competition tonight and give him the buckles.
But, there are still three rounds to complete and we want to give the other 44 guys a chance to grab some of the go round money.
This pen of bulls really looked like last Friday night's pen, as there were some classic ABBI bulls in the mix along with some bad dudes. Clayton Foltyn got us started in the first section with his 85.75 aboard Cactus (Davis/Mayo/Wilson/Hooker) and finally got the ice broken for his first ride of the world finals. Brian Herman had the same weekend that Clayton had last week and the 37 year old was starting to question his intentions of being here. Tonight he showed why he belonged with his 88 pointer on Holy Smoke of D&H Cattle/Harrison but that would put his score in the 10th position after all said and done. The Kansas bull rider Kasey Hayes put a huge number up with 89.75 on El Presidente of Jeff Robinson/Broken N and would finish out of the go round money at 6th place on the night.
That's correct, on the first night back to competition you would have to be in the 90's to get some prize money at the World Finals. Daisy Rookie of the Year contender Reese Cates of Carthage, Texas, would put up his 89.25 for his third ride out of four rounds and now finds him among the average race for the World Finals. Rookies have won the finals before as we watched L.J. Jenkins do it in 2006. Reese covered Red Bull of Teague Bucking bulls and would finish 7th on the evening. He split the round with the number one man Guilherme Marchi on the final ride of the night aboard Outa Da Blue of Circle T Ranch. This score would be Marchi's 4th ride of the week and has him slamming the door on the world title race and making sure there is no American bullriders trying to get what he thinks is his.
After watching 28 bull rides and only 5 qualified rides, it was Colby Yates getting to test the air tanks that fire the confetti onto the PBR fans. It worked with his 90 point bull ride on Mission Accomplished (Diamond S Bucking Bulls).
It wouldn't take long to load the cannons for Robson Palermo and Mighty Mike White. Back to back 92.75 and 92.25 for the Brazilian and the DeKalb Texan got the place a rockin’. Robson would get a crack at his bull first, which was Hot Stuff (D&H Cattle Co) and post the 92.75 and then moments later the chutes were ready for Mighty Mike White who picked Maverick in the draw this morning. Maverick was ready for him as well and they went jump for jump and the officials awarded him with 92.25.
The night came down to the top 5 bullriders in the race coming in. Three of them would ride, with Renato Nunes riding for the second time Chicken on a Chain, the 2007 PBR Bucking Bull of the Year. Earlier in the year, this bull was out with an injury that would result in taking him off the tour and diagnosing him having kidney stones that almost killed him in July. He hasn't been the same bull since but is getting back to his normal self as the days go by. Renato put it on him tonight for 91.25 and finish 4th in the round.
It was J.B Mauney's time and his draw would be Crosswired. This bull is exactly that as he exploded out of the chutes and for several jumps and turns, J.B. was right with him. As the scores came in from the arena officials it would find the North Carolina man at the top and with the highest scored ride of the world finals, 93.75 Crosswired (D&H Cattle/ Wiggins) and this would send the confetti to the rafters and make Guilherme a little more nervous. With this ride by J.B. tonight, it would send him to the lead in the average at 367.75 and would move him into striking distance for the world title. Friday night found J.B. moving from 4th in the points race to 2nd.
Guilherme (359.75) is number 2 in the world finals average and has to stay there for the remainder of the weekend if he hopes to secure the million dollar bonus. Thursday night finished with 5 of the 12 bull rides in the 90's and the fans aren't sure what to expect for Friday night's round.
Friday night should bring a little different pen of bulls to the riders and be somewhat rider friendly. We may not see the record of 33 bull rides that we seen one week ago but it should make for some good watching.
As we await the final three rounds, it seems we could turn our attention to the average race to finish the night as the leaderboard is filled with veterans and newcomers. Sitting in the number one spot as we mentioned is J.B. Mauney (367.75) #2 Guilherme Marchi (359.75) #3 Renato Nunes (275.25) #4 Chris Shivers (270.25) #5 Reese Cates (269) #6 Mike White (268) #7 Robson Palermo (265.50) #8 Aaron Roy (263) #9 Mike Lee (259.25) and #10 Shane Proctor (250.25).
The retirees, Justin McBride and Adriano Moraes, are down to the last 3 rides in their stellar careers and all bucked off tonight. Justin and Adriano didn't have their nights but we'll see what the fans will do for them down the stretch.
The ABBI will announce their classic champion tomorrow and the draft for the bullriders will take place at 10:30 AM. I look for the Thomas and Mack to be sold out tomorrow night and until then, I'm heading to hear the Bellamy Brothers at the PBR after party at the South Point Hotel. Have a great evening and see you all Friday for round five.
Take Care
J.W. Kinder
PRCA Rodeo Announcer & Western Regional Director
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