No rider ranked among the Top 40 in the world standings has won more rounds than two-time World Champion Chris Shivers without winning a Built Ford Tough Series event in 2011. And that was true before he won the first short round Friday night in Des Moines, Iowa.

Shivers, who is ranked 19th, took the early lead after two of four rounds when he covered Billionaire in Round 2 for 87 points, giving him a 2.25-point lead over Fabiano Vieira.

His fifth round win of the season came after finishing second in the average in Round 1, behind Travis Briscoe. Shivers rode PFI’s Boot Daddy in the first round for 87.75 points, and has a two-bull total of 174.75 points.

Vieira was the only other rider to cover two bulls on Friday. He scored 87 points on Ludacris in Round 1, before adding 85.5 points to his total when he became the first rider to put a qualified score on the leader board in Round 2. He made the whistle on Priceless.

Shivers has finished in the Top 10 at five events this season, including a third-place finish in Glendale, Ariz. He will have the No. 1 pick in the bull draft for Round 3, as he continues to look for his first event win of the season.

Shivers, who missed last week’s event in Seattle, said he’s rested physically and mentally, and came to Des Moines “to win this event.” Listen to the full post-event interview here.

Rounding out the Top 5 is Briscoe, who sits third with 88.5 points, followed by last week’s winner LJ Jenkins and Aaron Roy, who are splitting fourth and fifth in the average with 86.25 points.

Six of the Top 10 riders in the world covered their first-round bull, including the top-ranked rider, Valdiron de Oliveira. Four of them made it back to the short round.

The Des Moines Invitational concludes Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Arena beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

NEWS & NOTES

Tweet talk: Dickies DuraBullfighter Jesse Byrne will be answering questions from PBR fans via Twitter at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, prior to the final two rounds of the Des Moines Invitational. To participate, simply tweet your question to @TeamPBR and be sure to include the hash tag #PBRchat. Follow the live chat at www.twitter.com/TeamPBR.

TV times: For the second week in a row, TV times will be earlier than normal, with the Des Moines Invitational airing on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 4 p.m. ET.

— by Keith Ryan Cartwright