CHEYENNE, Wyo. (July 28, 2010) - History and location make the Cheyenne Touring Pro event one of the anticipated lower-level PBR events of the year.
This year’s event, held during the 114th annual Cheyenne Frontier Days celebration, featured a pen and a list of riders similar to that the Built Ford Tough Series.
When the dust had settled, L.J. Jenkins and Travis Sellers split first and second place. Each posted a two-bull score of 179 points, and their respective wins have all but assured them a spot at the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas.
“All the best bulls are there, and the guys [who] are going to be at Built Ford Tough events come to events like Cheyenne,” Sellers said.
“I just go in, whether it’s a Built Ford Tough or a Touring Pro event, and I look at them all the same: I have bulls to ride and that’s my job. The money and the TV is bigger at the Built Ford Tough’s, but you can’t look at that when you’re riding bulls. It’s bull riding.”
Jenkins’ performance Tuesday night proved to the Oklahoma-based rider that he’s recovered from a sore riding hand. The tendons didn’t require surgery, but left him sitting out for two months.
The 23-year-old, who won the BFTS event in Glendale, Ariz., had already won enough money to qualify for the Finals, but was unsure of his hand until this past week. He injured it in the short round at Albuquerque, N.M., on Voodoo Child.
In the past week he’s placed at a number of Touring Pro events.
“I’m confident and I know I’m riding good,” said Jenkins, who added that his hand is still sore, but not bothering him as badly as it was. “It’s why I took time off. I could feel it the first jump out every time I got on and I pretty much wanted to jump off, so that told me there was no need to keep going.
“Now it’s sore when I get off, but it doesn’t bother me while I’m riding.”
Sellers, who has been in and out of the Top 40 the past three years, has now won nearly $52,000 this season, which is likely enough to put him in the Top 25 of the qualifier standings with three months left on the schedule.
Sellers will compete this weekend at a Touring Pro event in Weatherford, Texas, and is looking forward to making the BFTS draw in Nashville, Tenn., as an alternate.
“It was big,” said Sellers of the win. “It secured my spot for the Finals, and just that event alone is so prestigious and an honor to win. [Cheyenne] is one of the biggest Touring Pro events of the year and one of the more historic events through the history of rodeo and bull riding, so it means a lot.
“It’s as much an honor to win it as the Built Ford Toughs, just because of the history there.”
The pair earned two of the nine 90-plus-point rides recorded at the two-night event – Jenkins scored 91.5 on Bad Moon, and Sellers notched 90 points on Red Devil.
Four of those scores were earned Monday night, and the other five came Tuesday evening.
“I was here [Monday night] and I watched it,” Jenkins said. “I mean, it’s Cheyenne, it’s always tough bull riding.
“Whenever a guy [like Sellers] is 89.5 and 90, your work is always pretty much cut out for you, no matter where you’re at. But I knew all the bulls were going to be good here. I’m just excited to get on the road again.”
