STEPHENVILLE, Texas (May 5, 2010) - The Top 40 bull riders in the world are four months into the 2010 Built Ford Tough Series – “four months into the deepest race we’ve ever had,” according to PBR co-founder Ty Murray.
Murray said that the heated competition is not only great for the sport, but that it’s also “great for bull riding fans to see this many guys” in the mix for a world title.
How many are in contention?
Any one of the Top 3 riders – Renato Nunes, Austin Meier and Travis Briscoe – could leave Wichita, Kan., this weekend as the No. 1 rider in the world. Two others – Ryan McConnel and J.B. Mauney – could be within 100 points of the leader, while any one of the Top 8 riders could claim the top spot in the next weeks.
“Final Word with Ty Murray” is posted at www.pbr.tv every week. The nine-time World Champion discusses past events, previews upcoming events, and analyzes trends in the sport of bull riding.
One observation this week was that after 18 BFTS events, there have been 15 different winners, with only Meier (3) and Valdiron de Oliveira (2) winning more than once.
“That’s the real difference this year, it seems like, and a lot of the other years,” Murray said. “Shoot, look at the year Justin McBride won. I think he won eight events, and it’s getting passed around pretty evenly this year.”
Going into Des Moines, Iowa, last weekend, six of the Top 10 riders had at least one event win. With Mike Lee’s win there, that number went up to seven.
Twelve of the Top 20 riders have at least one BFTS win in 2010.
According to Murray, “The main thing is trying to make use of every bull that you get on in some way, shape or form. As we saw last year, it can get so tight – every ride becomes crucial – that you can look back, at any point in the year, and see an opportunity lost and what might have cost you a championship.
“And this year, the race is so deep and so thick that it becomes more obvious as the year wears on how crucial everything gets, but really, all your bulls are really crucial from the get-go.”
The importance of every bull is magnified this year, because the final five BFTS events will provide the Top 10 riders with a bonus bull – attempted at the conclusion of Round 1 – that will be worth double points if the rider earns a qualified score.
With 18 events already in the books and 12 left before the PBR World Finals, there are only seven events remaining before those bonus round begin.
“It’s going to be fun,” said Murray of the remainder of the season.
During this week’s 21-minute interview, Murray also talked about individual contenders, and compared his era of bull riding with today.
The entire conversation can be heard by logging onto www.pbr.tv and selecting the “Podcast” tab on the left-hand column.
NEWS and NOTES
PBR NOW on RFD-TV: Hosted by J.W. Hart and Justin McBride, “PBR NOW” is a weekly live one-hour TV series that airs every Thursday on RFD-TV at 10 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to call a new number – 877-731-6733 – or send questions to a new email address: pbrnowshow@pbrnow.com.
Event Center: Follow all the action from this week’s BFTS event in Wichita, Kan., by logging on to www.pbr.com and entering the “Event Center,” which is accessible from the tab located at the top of the main Web page. The Event Center provides live scoring, live blogging and event-related Podcasts and interviews.
