PUEBLO, Colo. (June 15, 2010) - The summer break from the Built Ford Tough Series is at the halfway point, and the next 30 days of Touring Pro events will go a long way toward determining who will qualify for the 2010 PBR World Finals.
While some of the world’s top riders have used the summer to heal from injuries sustained in the first 20 BFTS events – Austin Meier, Travis Briscoe, Guilherme Marchi and J.B. Mauney among them – others have used the Touring Pro events and international competitions to recover from poor performances earlier this season.
There have been 14 Touring Pro events since the last BFTS event at Pueblo, Colo., in mid-May, and another 19 are slated to take place before the BFTS reconvenes in Tulsa, Okla., on July 16.
While the Touring Pro standings are important in determining BFTS alternates, the money earned also counts toward the World Finals qualifier standings.
As of June 15, Matt Bohon is the 40th qualifier with $26,967.04 in winnings. He has a slight lead of just over $100 over Clayton Baethge, and if past years are any indication, he’ll need to double his earnings before October.
Still, Bohon is in better position than other past Finals competitors.
The past two Rookies of Year – Cody Nance (2009) and Reese Cates (2008) – need to have big summers to have a chance of competing at any of the 10 remaining BFTS events. Nance is ranked 26th in the Touring Pro standings, while Cates is 44th.
Five riders who have regularly competed on the BFTS this year – Billy Robinson, Caleb Sanderson, Rocky McDonald, Cody Campbell and Ednei Caminhas – are all outside of the Top 40 in the qualifier standings as well. Robinson is the closest at 44, while Caminhas is 71st on the list.
Caminhas, a former World Champion (2002) has won only $11, 133.78 this year and is currently ranked 30th in the world standings. In 2008, he finished 16th in the world, but nearly missed the Finals because he covered only two short-round bulls all season. This year, he’s 0-for-7.
Since being cut from the BFTS, Luke Snyder has fared well enough on the lower level that he’s 43rd in the qualifier standings and 11th in the Touring Pro standings. While much can happen during the next seven weeks, the Missouri native would currently be slated as the first alternate beginning in San Antonio.
Like Bohon, there are another six riders – Beau Hill, Elliot Jacoby, Brendon Clark, Ben Jones, Douglas Duncan and Jared Farley – who need to win as much money as they can in the next 30 days to keep from being surpassed by the eight riders who are within $10,000 of them.
This weekend there are four Touring Pro events – one each in North Dakota, Idaho, Colorado and Florida – and another four next weekend. There will then be seven events to choose from during the traditional Cowboy Christmas, which takes place during the holiday week celebrating the Fourth of July.
NEWS and NOTES
Mo-bull: Don’t miss PBR action when you’re on the go. Follow the PBR on your mobile phone by texting “PBR” to 47201 (standard texting rates apply), or browse to mobull.pbrnow.com.
The best of 2010: PBR.TV is counting down the top rides of the year. This week, check out rides Nos. 11-20, then vote for your favorite here.
