PUEBLO, Colo. (July 6, 2010) - Brendon Clark became the first rider in recent history to win three Professional Bull Riders sanctioned events in a row with a first-place finish at the Touring Pro Division event at the Antelope Valley Fair in Lancaster, Calif. on Sunday.
Clark will try for his fourth straight victory on Saturday in West Jordan, Utah at the Cal-Ranch presents the Dickies Northwest Professional Bull Riders Touring Pro Division. He has won three events in nine days with victories at Greeley, Colo. on June 26 and at St. Paul, Ore. on June 30. Clark is scheduled to return to the elite Built Ford Tough Series beginning in Tulsa on July 16-18.
The TPD is the minor-league tour of the PBR, where both established veterans and newcomers to the professional ranks compete against some of the most famous bucking bulls. The TPD gives riders the opportunity to compete in PBR-sanctioned events while earning money to qualify for the elite Built Ford Tough Series, which is comprised of the Top 40 bull riders in the world. Every five events on the BFTS, the bottom five riders (based on points) are dropped from the BFTS and the Top 5 riders (based on money earned) from the TPD are allowed to move into the BFTS.
In other action during the Fourth of July weekend, Kevin McKeeman (Lake Wales, Fla.) scored 88 points in the championship round to finish first at the 10th-Annual Battle On Bull Mountain at Tidioute, Pa. Ned Cross (Midland, Ore.) scored 90.5 in the championship round to with the Park Rapids Bull Ride in Minnesota with 179 points, one point ahead of Matt Werries (Jacksonville, Ill.) and Reese Cates (Carthage, Texas).
There were three events in Texas and Luis Blanco (Irving, Texas) won the Slick Rock Challenge in Rocksprings while Jason O’Hearn (Stephenville, Texas) finished first in Wimberley and Caleb Sanderson (Kissimmee, Fla.) won in Giddings.
The elite BFTS is having the deepest title race in history and there have been 15 different winners through the first 20 events. The BFTS is currently on its summer break and will return on July 16-18 for the Express Classic in Tulsa, Okla., presented by Cooper Tires and brought to you locally by Troy-Bilt and Blue-Emu.
There are 12 riders in the Top 20 of the BFTS standings who have won an event. The multiple-event winners for 2010 are Austin Meier with four wins and Renato Nunes and Valdiron de Oliveira with two wins apiece.
The BFTS standings lead has changed nine times and there have been six different riders at the top in the first half of the season. J.B. Mauney has been ranked first three different times while Austin Meier and Renato Nunes have each held the top spot twice.
Professional Bull Riders Touring Pro Event Results:
Park Rapids Bull Ride
July 1-3, 2010 at Park Rapids, Minn.
1, Ned Cross, Midland, Ore., 179 points. 2/3, Matt Werries, Jacksonville, Ill., and Reese Cates, Carthage, Texas, 178.
Battle On Bull Mountain
July 2-4, 2010 at Tidioute, Pa.
1, Kevin McKeeman, Lake Wales, Fla., 173.5 points. 2, McKennon Wimberly, Cool, Texas, 172.5 points.
Slick Rock Challenge
July 2-3, 2010 at Rocksprings, Texas
1, Luis Blanco, Irving, Texas, 166 points. 2, Clay Taylor, Sayre, Okla., 156 points. 3/4, Derek McCormack, Covelo, Calif. and Justin Granger, Tuba City, Ariz., 86.5 points.
Wimberley VFW
July 2, 2010 at Wimberley, Texas
1, Jason O’Hearn, Stephenville, Texas, 172.5 points. 2, Chon Miranda, Ruidoso Downs, N.M., 171.5 points. 3, David Hudson, Jacksonville, Fla., 170 points.
Antelope Valley Fair
July 4 at Lancaster, Calif.
1, Brendon Clark, Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia, 161.5 points. 2, Cody Campbell, Summerville, Ore., 85.5 points.
Fury On The Fourth
July 4 at Giddings, Texas
1, Caleb Sanderson, Kissimmee, Fla., 88 points. 2/3, Kolt Donaldson, Idabel, Okla., and David Hudson, Jacksonville, Fla., 86 points.
About the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR)
More than 100 million viewers tune in each year to the PBR on VERSUS, NBC, CBS and television networks around the world. With approximately 400 hours of prime-time programming annually, the PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on air. The PBR attracts nearly two million live event attendees each year with its marquee Built Ford Tough Series and the PBR Touring Pro Division. More than 1,200 PBR bull riders compete every year in approximately 300 PBR sanctioned competitions in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. 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.
For more on the PBR, please visit www.pbr.com, www.teampbr.com, www.pbr.tv, www.myspace.com/teampbr, twitter.com/teampbr, or www.pbr.com/worldfinals/.
