The PBR men arrived in Orlando, Florida for the 21st stop of the Built Ford Tough Series tour. We are on the down side now, with only 11 more events before the Finals in Las Vegas the end of October, beginning of November. It took a while to find out just who the winner of this event was, but more about that later.
Round one saw Sean Willingham atop the leader board after his ride on Roy Carter Bucking Bulls’ Fraggle Rock gave him 89.50 points. An 88.25 score was what landed Kody Lostroh in second. He rode Hookin’ Bull, owned by Murphy Ranch and Rodeo. In third was Ednei Camhinas. He was able to cover Too Sharp, who is owned by Mosley/Radke Bucking Bulls to an 87.75. Right behind in fourth was Brian Canter, with an 87.50. He rode Martinez Bucking Bulls, LLC’s Vampire.
The top four in the second round brought us four new cowboys. Renato Nunes rode Jack Rabbit to an 87.75. Herrington Cattle Company owns Jack Rabbit. Brendon Clark rode the George Walschon/Gene Baker/Homestead Genetics bull Bravo to an 87.25 to be second. Vince Northrup was third with an 86.75 after his ride on Strip Me, owned by Roy Carter Bucking Bulls. Fourth was Valdiron de Oliveira. He received 86.50 after riding Black Mamba, owned by Martinez Bucking Bulls, LLC.
In the Championship Round, the popular J.B. Mauney scored a big 90.75 to win the short-go. His partner was Wild Life, owned by Boyd/Floyd Bull Company. Keeping with initials here, L.J. Jenkins was second, after his ride on the Martinez Bucking Bull, LLC’s Far West gave him a score of 89.75. Lostroh was hot on his heels with an 89.50. he rode Encore, owned by Jeff Robinson/Anchor Bull Company. Fourth was de Oliveira. He covered Gappy Joe, who is owned by Robinson/Larry the Cable Guy for an 89.25. Quite a close short-go, to be sure.
But who was the average winner for the event? That’s what Cord McCoy was wondering. McCoy was in the lead for the average with one rider to go. That rider was Willingham. He only needed to stay on his bull for the win. It appeared he did so, albeit hanging on the side for a good bit of the ride, but the clock stopped at 7.6 seconds, as he was called for a slap. It was at that point that Sean had to challenge. “With the difference in money being $500 for pushing the button and about $25,000 for the event win, I had to do it.”
For those of you reading this who might not know; a rider is allowed to challenge a decision if he feels it is warranted. The decision will either be over-turned, or it will cost the rider $500.
For several minutes McCoy and Willingham wandered about until the announcement was finally made. The decision was over-turned and Sean was the winner. This was his first win since last year, and I am thrilled for him. Both of these men are such super guys, it’s almost too bad one had to lose.
A new competition has been added to the tour. Called the Zantrex-3 Insta-Shot Grudge Match, the winner of the event is able to choose a rider to challenge. Whoever rides his bull to the highest score wins an extra $5000. To kick off this new addition, de Oliveira and three-time World Champion Adriano Moraes were picked to start things up. Unfortunately, both men bucked off their bulls.
Willingham had made it clear that if he won he would pick Justin McBride, who is scheduled to return to competition at the next event in Dallas, Texas. It was not to be though, since the person who is challenged must be present to accept said challenge. Sean then decided to pick his traveling partner, Jenkins. This new little rivalry looks as if it will be a fun addition to the PBR.
There were some good bull scores in the Championship Round, but the bull that was awarded the Salem NationaLease Bull of the Event was the ever consistent Chicken on a Chain, owned by Robinson/Tedesco/Larry the Cable Guy. He was given a score of 46.25 for his efforts.
And speaking of bulls they were obviously ready to play in Florida, and some of them managed to do a bit of damage to the cowboys. The most serious of these injuries was Paulo Crimber. On the first night, and in his first event back after fracturing his C1 vertebrae back in February in St. Louis, Crimber was thrown hard and then landed on by the bull Roughneck. He sustained a broken collarbone and a couple of broken ribs. Just like that, his season is once again on hold for between two to six months.
Also on Friday night, Ross Coleman landed on his head injuring his neck when he was thrown by Black Mamba. He was going to get X-rays the beginning of this week to further look into the injury. As of this writing I haven’t heard any results. I wish both these men all the best.
So the final results of the Git-R-Done Invitational went like this: we had Willingham and McCoy, followed by Lostroh, Mauney, and Jenkins.
The Built Ford Tough World Standings have Guilherme Marchi still handily the lead, despite not riding either of his bulls on this weekend, with Lostroh in second, de Oliveira third, Mauney fourth, and Jenkins fifth.
A weekend off, and then Dallas for the Dickies American Worker of the Year Invitational.
Andy Watson photo
Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza,
Barb.
