NASHVILLE, Tenn. (August 17, 2010) - You can fly non-stop from Music City to Sin City, or drive there on Interstate 40 West. You certainly don’t need to detour through Montana.
You do if you’re Sevi Torturo.
After jumping 23 spots in the qualifier standings Sunday in Nashville, Tenn., Torturo is within striking distance of the Top 40 bull riders who will be taking bows in Las Vegas. He’s sitting in the 51st position – about $10,000 behind the No. 40 qualifier, Caleb Sanderson – and has to grab hold of as many money-making opportunities as he can.
That’s why Torturo will be in Helena, Mont., on Wednesday before heading to Memphis, Tenn., for this weekend’s Built Ford Tough Series event. He knows every event between now and Finals is important.
“I just take every bull the same way,” Torturo said. “I know I can ride rank bulls.”
Torturo wasn’t riding much at all since qualifying for the World Finals in 2006. After making $51,272 that year, he slumped to less than $9,500 the next two seasons combined. His undoing was primarily a left (riding) elbow injury that required surgery in 2007.
“It had been a nagging injury since right after the Finals in ’03,” he said. “Then in 2007, right after the Finals, it swelled up and was real bad. I had surgery and then came back to my last few events and just messed it up again. I think I might have come back too early just trying to get in the mix of things.”
Torturo, who lives in Wayne, Okla., outside of Oklahoma City, took the entire 2009 season off to heal physically. Mentally, he thought his bull riding career was over.
“I thought I needed some time off, and to be honest, I was done riding bulls,” said Torturo, 27, who also earns a living training horses. “I went from, when I showed up, I didn’t think anything in the pen could throw me off to I was just hoping to get a good one. Therefore, I wasn’t where I wanted to be in my bull riding, so I just figured I was done.”
Not yet.
Torturo, recharged in body and mind, began competing again this year. He earned $4,712 at a Touring Pro event in Pala, Calif., in May, and then won an early June event in Ardmore, Okla., that netted him $2,996. He captured the Mike White Invitational in Lake Charles, La., in late June and added $5,809. He rode the rank Carrillo Cartel (4C’s / Sills / HD Bucking Bulls) for 92 points in the championship round.
Torturo returned to the Built Ford Tough Series as an alternate in Tulsa, Okla., in mid-July. At the Jack Daniel’s Invitational in Nashville, he rode his first two bulls to qualify for the short round. He drafted the reigning PBR World Champion Bull, Code Blue (Walton & Wagoner / Berger & Struve), and lasted 5.7 seconds.
“Any time I show up I want to win, so therefore you’ve got to get on the best bulls in the world,” Torturo said. “I figured he was the best one and would be the highest points, and that’s kind of what I was shooting for.”
“I was definitely trying to pick a bull I could win on. It just didn’t work out today.”
