NASHVILLE – Round one of the Jack Daniels Invitational PBR event in Nashville Saturday night offered the crowd a little bit of everything: drama, comedy, even song and dance. There were celebrity sightings, rides, wrecks, cheers for the riders, jeers for a few of the scores and bulls that forgot to read the script, deciding instead to the victor.
There was the return of a too-long gone PBR favorite, in Tony Mendes who spent much of the round in the lead and seated atop the cage in the center of the arena. And in the end the win, at least for round one, went to a fan favorite, the seemingly untouchable Justin McBride.
The event got off to a slow start, with only six scores going up in the first 22 rides.
Fourth out of the chutes, Cool, Texas rider McKennon Wimberly put up the first score of the night, posting an 85 point ride on Frontier and Teague’s "Chain Reaction." The ride didn’t start a chain reaction, however, as three more riders went up and down shy of the eight second buzzer before New Mexico’s LJ Jenkins took over the top spot with an 87 pointer on Diamond S "Smash Hit."
Cory Melton and Ednei Caminhas put up back to back successful rides, both on Davis/Wilson bulls, with Melton putting an 84.5 pointer on "Wildcat Blaine," and Caminhas followed with an 85.75 on "Prime Time." While Caminhas’ score brought cheers, his hang up as he attempted to get off his bull added a few extra thrills. Luckily, Caminhas walked away from the wreck apparently unscathed.
Raymore, Mo.’s Luke Snyder lasted only two seconds on Frontier/Teague’s "Invisible Touch," but the result was not surprising as Snyder worked to keep his consecutive event streak alive, despite a broken riding hand.
Jared Farley, returning to competition after missing much of the season due to injuries bucked off with the arena clock showing 7.9 seconds. Heading right for the challenge buzzer paid off for Farley, as the replay judge showed the ride lasting 8.1 seconds, and Farley landed an 82.25 point score on the back of (Chad Berger/Clay Struve) "Turbo." Canadian Rob Bell posted an 80.0 ride in the same section on the back of (John & Lacey Berger) "Cool Cat."
The number of successful rides picked up in the second half of the round, with Travis Briscoe posting an 84.0 on "Night Moves" (Page & Teague/Buck/Watts), followed by Ned Cross’s 85.5 on "Cliff’s Edge" (Page & Buck). Tony Mendes took the lead with an 87.5 point ride to take the lead that would last almost all night.
Other qualified rides came from Robson Palermo, a wild 86 point ride on "Red Man" (Bailey Rodeo Co.) that brought the crowd alive; Matt Bohon with an 85.25 pointer on "Big & Rich" (Bailey Rodeo Co.); Paulo Crimber’s 83.5 ride on "Little Rascal" (Page & Teague); and Kasey Hayes’ 81.75 pointer on "Rock Star" (Hurley).
Defending world champion Adriano Moraes had the house going wild as he covered the previously unridden "BuckersToBucks.com" (Page/Dobbins), but the bull spent more time in the air than on the ground, failing to perform to his usual standards. While Moraes’ 76.5 point score brought boos from the crowd, he was quick to accept the reride on bull rider favorite "Ditto."
Also posting a low score on a ride that saw the bull performing more like a reindeer was fellow Brazilian Guilherme Marchi. His 72.25 on "Show Time" (Frontier Rodeo Co.) led to a reride on "Cheeseburger Island Style," giving Marchi an 84.25 for the round.
Crowd favorites Brian Canter, Sean Willingham and JB Mauney each failed to make a qualified ride. Victory in the round appeared to be within Mendes’ grasp, with only one more rider to get past. Mendes said, however, that he expected to give up his seat in the winner’s circle, because the final rider was six-time winner this season, Justin McBride.
McBride never wavered on the back of "Cheeseburger with an Attitude" (Davis/White) from the time the chute gate opened and his ride proved to be enough to displace Mendes, as McBride posted an 88 point score.
McBride will enter Sunday’s round in good position to win a record-breaking seventh event of the year, but will have to get past the 16 other riders who put up scores Saturday night.
Bull rider Clayton Williams was originally slated to ride in the first group of riders, but didn’t take his spot in the chutes until the end of the fifth group. Williams was hit with a delayed flight and didn’t arrive at the arena until just moments before he climbed on the bull.
The 45 riders will return to the Sommet Center – formerly the Gaylord Entertainment Center – for the second round and the short-go on Sunday afternoon, before heading off to Dallas next weekend.
Those viewing Sunday’s events live will also be treated to a bonus – the final round in the taping of "Ty Murray’s Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge." Stars – who were also on hand to watch Saturday night’s round – include actor Stephen Baldwin, Former NFL player Rocket Ismail; Moto-X rider Kenny Bartram; American Gladiator "Nitro" Dan Clark; Survivor reality star Jonny (Dalton) Fairplay; UFC Fighter Josh Haynes; and "24" actor Francesco Quinn. The bull riding reality show is slated to air on CMT beginning Aug. 10.
Other celebrity sightings in country music headquarters for Saturday night’s round included singers Toby Keith, John Michael Montgomery and Royal Wade Kimes.
All photos by Mary Rudloff
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