CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (September 23, 2010) - This weekend’s short round pen in Charlottesville, Va., will be highlighted by World Champion Bull contenders like Voodoo Child, Uncle Buck, Bones and Major Payne.
It’ll be the final opportunity for those four and any others to leaving a lasting impression on the Top 40 riders in the world, who will vote for the top five contenders next week in Uncasville, Conn.
“They’ll vote for any bull they want,” explained PBR Livestock Director Cody Lambertt. “Any five bulls they want. Every guy picks five bulls. The five bulls, at the end of their voting, that have the most votes are in, and then after we announce those five, we’ll open it up for the fans to vote.”
Last year, the fans voted in one bull.
Lambert said that because they did such a good job in 2009, “I’m going to let the fans pick two this year.”
That guarantees seven bulls competing for the title. In past years, Lambert has had the authority to add an eighth bull to the official list of contenders if one of the top bulls is overlooked in the voting process.
To Lambert, the No. 1 contender is Bushwacker.
“Voodoo Child led the thing all year until just recently,” Lambert said. “He hasn’t faltered in any way, but Bushwacker has kind of taken over the lead.”
Lambert added that Bushwacker is as athletic and strong as his father Reindeer, and much more consistent. In fact, he went so far as to say that if the bull continues to perform for another couple of years, “he could be the best there’s ever been, that’s how athletic he is.”
Five other potential title contenders include Chicken on a Chain, Big Tex, Yellow Jacket Jr., Moon and Highway 12.
Moon, who like Bushwacker is an ABBI Classic bull, has been the top contender twice in head-to-head competition. Highway 12 has been a late-season addition to the list, and remains a longer shot to make the final list of seven or eight.
“It’s always the toughest bulls,” Lambert said. “That’s the thing about the PBR, that’s what we promise and that’s what we deliver.”
NEWS AND NOTES
PBR Now on RFD-TV: J.W. Hart and his co-host Justin McBride will be back on RFD-TV this Thursday, beginning at 10 p.m. ET. The show is also streamed live at PBR.TV. Fans are encouraged to call 877-731-6733, or send questions by emailing pbrnowshow@pbr.com.
Live Event Center: Follow all the action from this week’s BFTS event in Charlottesville, Va., including the second of five bonus rounds for the Top 10 riders, by logging on to the Event Center at www.pbr.com/live. The multimedia center provides live scoring, live blogging and event-related interviews.
