This night would be special, as it would seperate the leaders from the spoilers. The race is as close as ever in the history of the PBR BFTS season and it looks like we will all have to wait to see what Sunday will bring.
The young guns of the PBR would start the night off with McKennon Wimberly aboard Yellow Jacket Jr (Dakota Rodeo /Clay Struve /Julie Rosen) for an 89.75 pointer, winning the rematch from a previous BFTS from Reno. This would hold on for the night to 4th place and put $10,000 into Wimberly's bank account.
Ednei Caminhas is'nt in the "young guns" catergory, but would put his name on the board tonight following McKennon's ride, with his presentable 89 on Necessary Evil of Don Kish's string of bulls and ending up 7th.
The Kansas talent Kasey Hayes would wind up with 84.25 and finish at the bottom of the 13 qualifies rides tonight.
We would have to wait for the PBR's ground crew to clean up the arena on one side to see Chicken on a Chain (Jeff Robinson/Mike Tedesco/Larry the Cable Guy/Bar None) carry Caleb Sanderson from Florida to his 90.75 pointer. Sanderson got his first Finals check in the amount of $18,000.This would find Caleb on top of the leaderboard on the night after 24 bullriders.
After 4 qualified rides out of 24 cowboys, the fans of the Thomas and Mack were certainly on the edge of their seats for the remainder of the evening. Young Gun Reese Cates, replacing the injured Cody Ford, would find himself and his 88.50 points right in the middle of his first round of this Finals. Cates would post that score on Mac-Netts El Presidente, another bull of Jeff Robinson and his partners Bar None/Skyhawk Rugs/Cathy & Jason McNeeley.
Canadian Aaron Roy would ride his bull, Mellow Yellow (Duncan & Evans Bulls), for 87.75. He did not finish the round in the money but would join a select few men that have covered 4 of their first 5 bulls.
During the third section of bull riding Friday night, we witnessed Mike Lee suffer a horrendous buckoff and lay motionless on the arena floor for several minutes. The PBR medical team and Dr Tandy Freeman would assist him and after some length in time, we would Lee climb to his feet and leave under his own power.
The oldest qualifier to the Finals Brian Herman suffered a broken riding hand during his ride and he intends to finish the Finals this year, as this may be his final season on the PBR BFTS tour.
The Enterprise Ride with the Best would be next bullrider to go. For those of you that don't know, this is the rider from the previous round's win. That was Kody Lostroh from last night, so we wouldn't have to wait for JB and Kody to square off for the final two rides of the night.
You could cut the tension in the air with a knife, but as Kody will tell you, "it's one ride at a time." This is his time! The bull from Julio Moreno, Troubadour, was waiting for the 4th rematch of this kid's career. The previous 3 haven't been exactly kind but in his favor. The confetti flying, Kody's 91.25 would move Caleb to second and put Kody in the driver's seat, instead of the passenger seat where everyone here has put him.
Kody will actually tell you he doesn't mind that the talk is all about JB Mauney and how it's his title to lose. The PBR staff posted a previous article about how the title was JB's to lose and not Kody's to win, which Kody said he thinks has put more pressure on JB than on him. Then again, he's okay with that!!! The $25,000 dollar payday that comes with the round, and the $5,000 Enterprise dollars has put Kody's five-round total at $78,000. Do you realize that's like $2,600 dollars per second for his efforts at the Finals? But it's not about the dollars won for Kody; it's what awaits him at the end of the weekend that he's more concerned about: the coveted gold buckle.
Kody would now be able to watch the final 12 bullriders take their shots at that leaderboard and his 91.25 score. Dustin Elliott and LJ Jenkins, who won the Finals a few years ago, did not get it done. Chris Shivers and Sean Willingham remain scoreless after 5 rounds. Who would have thought that?
Austin Meiers would join the 90 point club with his ride aboard Far West (Martinez Bucking Bulls) and finish in 3rd, good enough for $12,000 tonight.
Wiley Petersen and Renato Nunes, who hadn't ridden a bull after 4 rounds, would break the ice with an 87 from Wiley on Hot Stuff (D& H Cattle) and Renato would backflip after his 89.5 on 4C's/Sills/Vaughn and net $5,000 for his first ride of the Finals.
World Finals average winner from last year Robson Palermo would continue his winning ways and put 88.75 on Sure Fire (D&H Cattle Co) to finish 8th in the round, and move one round closer to repeating as the finals winner.
Next up, the Colgate Oklahoma talent, Ryan McConnel, who finally after 10 days, has taken the talk about his truck accident prior to the Finals and refocused on why he's really here: to ride bulls. That's really what he's done to this point, but 7.9 seconds later on Rowdy Houdlum we would all be reminded that this kid had a punctured lung the size of a pencil eraser and the doctors told him it would heal in time for the Finals. Well, now we're not sure if it even healed as he got thrown from his ride and underneath the bull he went. The Dickies Dura Bullfighters did their best to free Ryan from the wreckage but he was needing some assistance from the arena. Limping out of the arena, he wasn't able to realize what his position was, so JW Hart from Versus was standing by the Pike challenge buzzer and pressed it for Ryan. The result was 7.97 seconds and the T & M went to booing the replay officials. The call stood.
All this time, Valdiron de Oliviera was ready to call for his bull, Pearl Snap. Boyd Floyd earlier tonight received a check along with the Ravenscroft in the amount of $250,000 for their ABBI Classic Champion Bull Black Pearl. They also were awarded the Breeders Cup for being the best in the industry this year. Valdiron would turn in an 88.50 and finish 10th tonight but more importantly submitted his name into the average race for the Finals and the $225,000 dollar payday.
Guillherme Marchi would face his first disapointting PBR Finals head on. He came down early for the 5th time and he just doesn't look like what the 2008 World Champion has shown us. He still has a big grin on his face for the exit out of the arena and he is a gracious champion of the world. He now may realize just how difficult it is to repeat as the champ of the world.
JB Mauney, who hails from Mooresville NC, picked this bull Ricky Bobby (HD Page/Bill & Betty Morrison) last night at the draft and he's seen the bull all year on tour. After watching Kody ride his bull to the tune of 91.25 earlier tonight, JB tucked that chin and said "let's ride." After he called for the Priefert gate, he went round for round and jump for jump with the bull. It was textbook to say the least; all the bull riding instructors in the world would use this ride in their videos on how to ride bulls. The judges sent their scores electronically to the Copenhagen scoreboard and it would end up 89.25 points. A half point seperated him from the money window but at this point, who's counting money won? Money won on the year was how you qualified to get here, but points is how you're going to get the million dollars.
Lostroh, the Colorado native, would step out in the arena once again and finish the night with a round win. Kody and JB shook hands as JB left the arena and Kody entered to get his buckle and awards for the go-round win tonight.
As we crunch the numbers in the press room this evening, it's shaping up to be the best few days of bull riding for both young men EVER!!! Period. Kody has extended his world title lead back to nearly 800 points and has shaved JB's average lead to a mere 2.5 points, 447.25 to 444.75. Four rounds ago it was almost 10 points but the last two nights he has whittled away at that lead. I think it's safe to say Kody isn't going to go away and that JB is going to try and extend the pressure.
On a side note, Zack Brown will not finish his 2009 Finals, as he chose to take some time off and heal that groin injury from earlier this year. He had gone 0-4 and he didn't feel it was worth riding through the pain.
The attendance of nearly 12,000 fans watched tonight at the Thomas & Mack, as the 2009 Built Ford Tough Series is going to right down to the last rides on Sunday. The next 2 rounds should be fun and exciting to watch as they unfold.
As the Mandalay Bay is hosting the PBR after party tonight, it's time to close the barn door on this round. Unil next time, take care and God bless.
JW Kinder
Professional Rodeo Announcer
Casper Wyoming
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