Wrangler ProRodeo Tour and Dodge Xtreme Bulls Come to Reno. NV

By Courtesy PRCA
Posted Monday, June 16, 2008

Wrangler ProRodeo Tour fires back up with summer-launching event
RENO, Nev. – For the ninth consecutive year, the Reno (Nev.) Rodeo is a highlighted stop on the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour. The event, called the “Wildest, Richest Rodeo in the West,” puts a charge into the summer rodeo season and resumes the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour after its last event nearly one month ago in Redding, Calif. The Reno Rodeo is annually one of the PRCA’s most prestigious and lucrative events, offering more than $500,000 in prize money and a coveted set of silver spurs to each event’s average champion.

The Reno Rodeo gets started on June 20 at 7 p.m. PT for the first of nine performances. Events at 7 p.m. follow each day, including the final round on June 28.

Reno marks the 15th of 26 venues on the 2008 Wrangler ProRodeo Tour. At the conclusion of the final Tour stop in Dodge City, Kan., on Aug. 5, the top 35 contestants (35 teams in team roping) in total Tour points and the “Wild Cards,” event champions from the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo, presented by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, will move on to the first Ariat Playoffs event, Aug. 12-16, in Caldwell, Idaho. Fox Sports Network and CBS are scheduled to televise the Playoffs.

Reno all-around and average champions get a jumpstart into the lucrative Fourth of July run. Since 1998, 10 cowboys and two cowgirls have walked out of Reno with championship spurs and later that year won a world title: Wesley Silcox (bull riding, 2007); Brittany Pozzi-Pharr (barrel racing, 2007); Will Lowe (bareback riding, 2006); Chad Ferley (saddle bronc riding, 2006); Trevor Brazile (all-around, 2002-03); Dan Mortensen (saddle bronc riding, 2003); Cody Ohl (all-around, 2001); Jeff Collins (bareback riding, 2000); Speed Williams/Rich Skelton (team roping, 2000); Ty Murray (all-around, 1998); and Kristie Peterson (barrel racing, 1998).

Dodge Xtreme Bulls Tour ends long layoff with annual return to Nevada
Reigning World Champion Bull Rider Wesley Silcox of Payson, Utah, and fellow world champions B.J. Schumacher (2006) of Hillsboro, Wis., and Cody Hancock (2000) of Taylor, Ariz., highlight the 40-man field for this week’s Dodge Xtreme Bulls Tour stop. For the sixth consecutive year, the Reno Rodeo is playing host to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s (PRCA) best bull riders and bulls as they compete for a shot at the title on June 19 at 7 p.m. PT.

Reno is the fifth Dodge Xtreme Bulls Tour destination in 2008 and the first in two months since the Tour visited Laughlin, Nev. Silcox, ranked No. 2 in the Crusher Rentals PRCA World Standings behind Chance Smart of Philadelphia, Miss. – who’s also the leader in the Dodge Xtreme Bulls Tour standings – started his world-title defense on Feb. 16 when he won the title at the second San Antonio Xtreme Bulls stop and later won his second Tour stop of the season in Laughlin, Nev., on April 13. Other Dodge Xtreme Bulls Tour-stop champions from 2008 are: Myron Duarte of Auburn, Wash. (Rapid City, S.D., Jan. 26), Smart (San Antonio, Jan. 31); and Mike Moore of Kankakee, Ill. (Houston, March 19).

In Dodge Xtreme Bulls, every contestant competes in the semifinal round, with the top 15 performers advancing to the final round. The winner of the two-head average wins that stop’s title. Money won at Dodge Xtreme Bulls events count toward the Crusher Rentals PRCA World Standings, which determines qualifiers for the Wrangler NFR, Dec. 4-13, in Las Vegas.

In Reno, each rider competes for part of the $40,000 purse and placement in the Dodge Xtreme Bulls rankings.
ESPN and ESPN2 are the exclusive networks for Dodge Xtreme Bulls and will broadcast the Reno highlights in a one-hour show on July 5 at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN and July 27 at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN2.