Mendes, and Helton Barbosa and Robson Arageo shine in Del Mar

By Barbara Pinnella
Posted Friday, August 1, 2008

This past weekend, on July 26th and 27th, Linda Peterson and I covered two events that took place in Del Mar, California. Saturday was an Enterprise Rent-A-Car event. The Enterprise events are the newest competitions within the PBR, and features both current and future stars of the PBR. Whatever money won on this tour also counts towards both the Challenger Tour Finals as well as the BFTS World Finals.

I had not been to an Enterprise event before, and Linda only one time, so we were looking forward to this new bull riding experience, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Both these performances were at 8:00 at night, due to the fact that the Del Mar race meet is on, and all had to clear out before the bull riding could begin.

While many of cowboys competing were new to us, there were some familiar faces, such as Ben Jones, Cory Rasch, Cole Taylor and Tony Mendes. Out of the 26 cowboys in the three sections, only seven were able to cover their bulls, and the short go saw only one able to ride. That was our friend Mendes, and we were quite happy to see him grab the win.

Later on we took him to dinner at Denny’s – it’s not because we’re cheap, but at 10:30 at night in Del Mar we couldn’t find another place that was still serving. We’ll let him buy us a good steak dinner in Vegas if he feels the need to do a payback! Seriously, this whole evening was a good time. This Enterprise event had the feel of a county fair to it, and I mean that as a big compliment – relaxed and fun.

Sunday night was the first PBR Team Shootout, presented by Ford Trucks. Ten of the top 45 bull riders were team captains, and they each picked their partner. Each cowboy rode twice, and the captains picked who rode in which section, as well as which bull they would ride.

The ten teams were:

Team Xtreme – Travis Briscoe and Cole Taylor

Team Elliott – Dustin Elliott and Wesley Silcox

Team Jeffrey Scott Fine Magnetics – Cory Rasch and Luke Snyder

Team Oliveira – Valdiron Oliveira and Pim Rosa

Team Nunes – Renato Nunes and Marcelo Nunes

Team Landreneau – Nick Landreneau and Ben Jones

Team Karshaw Knives – Guilherme Marchi and Juliano Marchi

Team Coleman – Ross Coleman and Matt Bohon

Team Express – Ednei Caminhas and Arnobo Ferreira

Team Arageo – Robson Arageo and Helton Barbosa

Seven teams competed in the fourth and last section, and the bull they had could be swapped off for what were called the “Undesirable Pen”. If this bull was ridden the points awarded would be doubled. Five super bulls were in this pen; Reindeer Dippin and Charlie Bullware of Flying U/Moreno, Sparky from Circle T, Monkey Man of Champion B, and the fabulous Moreno bull, Troubadour.

Teams Oliveira and Snyder kept their draws. Team Arageo took Reindeer, Team Nunes chose Charlie Bullware, Team Landreneau picked Troubadour, Team Silcox opted for Sparky, and Team Karshaw Knives went with Monkey Man.

When the dust settled, and after Barbosa rode Reindeer Dippin, it was he and Arageo who brought home the gold in this first Shootout. And the prize was nothing to sneeze at - $50,000 winner take all! There will be three more of these Shootouts leading up to the finals, which will be in Pueblo, Colorado on August 28th. This was a fun new concept that we enjoyed, but whether or not it becomes a fixture with the PBR remains to be seen.

Another fun, comfortable feel on this night, and the fans both nights really seemed to enjoy themselves. I can attest to some of them. Saturday night we met a super family who go to the Del Mar event each year and really had a blast, especially their daughter, who got a big kick out of watching Tony Mendes change his clothes behind the chutes a few times. Use you imagine on that one.

Sunday we spent some time with jockeys Luis Jauregui and Corey Nakatani, along with Corey's wife, Lisa. They had a great time, and it was fun to see Jauregui and Nakatani's reactions to things. I think if they could have, they would have gotten on a bull themselves - especially Corey!

I wish I could put up some pictures from the weekend, but there was a big camera malfunction – the camera never made it out of Linda’s house! Never mind that the tape recorder didn’t make it from my home, either. Ah well, I think that’s a first, and hopefully a last. Anyway, there are eight more BFTS events before the Finals, and don’t forget the World Cup in Chihuahua, Mexico in August as well. Check your local listings, as all of these events will be televised, including the Shootouts.

Be safe and God Bless,

Viva La Raza,

Barb.