NAMPA, Idaho – Here are three things we learned this weekend at the DEWALT Guaranteed Tough Invitational at the Ford Idaho Center.
Outlaw refuses to let out a sigh of relief
Many things could have gone wrong for Chase Outlaw this weekend.
Whether it was almost missing Round 1 of the event on Saturday night because of flight delays to nearly losing his bull rope in the championship round, Outlaw could still be sitting on the outside looking in at qualifying for the 2018 PBR World Finals on Nov. 7-11 at T-Mobile Arena.
Instead, Outlaw continues to back up his guarantee of qualifying for the PBR World Finals despite missing eight months this season because of injuries.
Outlaw capped his 3-for-3 performance in Nampa by riding Jasper for 89.75 points to earn 420 world points and rocket to No. 35 in the world standings.
“Man that last ride, he about had me as I was trying to fight that bull in the box,” Outlaw said. “Shoot, it worked out. That son of a gun just packed me around and I about lost my rope in that first or second round. I just went to riding him correct. Heck, it felt good. I couldn’t have picked a better one.”
Outlaw began the weekend ranked 61st in the world standings before riding Redneck for 87.25 points in Round 1 and tying for the Round 2 victory with Rubens Barbosa (88 points on Suspicious Minds) with 88 points aboard Check It Out.
RELATED: Outlaw escapes flight issues and converts in Nampa
There were 43 qualified rides in Nampa, including a season-best 19 in Round 2.
Outlaw leads No. 36 Cody Jesus, who finished 2-for-3 and in fifth place (120 points), by 22.5 points heading into next weekend’s Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour event in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
That slight lead is one reason why Outlaw knows he cannot get too comfortable with his world ranking.
“I am rolling in there with the same attitude I had this (weekend),” Outlaw said. “That is one bull at a time. All you can do is all you can do.
“We can’t take a sigh of relief yet.”
Outlaw is 5-for-9 since returning to competition three weeks ago following a two-month recovery from serious facial reconstructive surgery.
He has earned 530 points in three weeks and moved up 41 spots in the world standings.
So when does that sigh of relief finally happen?
“November 12th,” Outlaw concluded.
Two-time World Champion J.B. Mauney went 3-for-3 to finish in a tie for seventh place. The 80 world points he picked up has him sitting 32nd in the world standings.
Teel sets career-high with 92.25-point ride on Spotted Demon
In the battle of the 2012 PRCA champion rider and the 2018 PRCA Bull of the Year, it was Cody Teel that came out victorious.
Teel became the first rider this season to ride Spotted Demon, and he took the PBR World Champion-contending bull to the whistle for a career-high 92.25 points.
“I just want to win events,” Teel said. “I am not trying to sound cool or anything, but I haven’t really won other than Nashville, which isn’t the way I wanted to. To do it the way I did today was great. I knew today when I woke up this morning I wanted that bull Spotted Demon. I have seen him for a long time. You can get a score like that on him, especially with the circumstances today of me coming back sixth (in the championship round). I needed a big score and that is what I went with.”
Spotted Demon was last ridden in PBR competition by Kaique Pacheco at the 2017 Last Cowboy Standing event in Las Vegas.
The 10-year-old bull was marked 45.5 points and finishes the regular season fourth in the World Champion Bull standings.
The ride capped off Teel’s 3-for-3 showing in Nampa and was enough to earn him his third career event win ahead of Outlaw, Jose Vitor Leme (3-for-3, 360 world points), Derek Kolbaba (3-for-3, 220 world points) and Jesus.
Teel began his weekend with 87.5 points on Mortimer in Round 1 and 85.5 points on Gangster Can Do in Round 2.
He moves up to No. 5 in the world standings and trails Pacheco, who was bucked off by Solid Iron’s Hammer Down in the championship round, by 2,380 points.
Teel knows it will take consistency and major rides like on Sunday if he hopes to make any comeback.
“It is going to take rides like that on Spotted Demon if I do want to make up the difference,” Teel said. “I have to keep that going.”
Leme shaves a small chunk off Pacheco’s lead
Jose Vitor Leme was unable to pick up a much-needed event win on Sunday as his 88-point ride on Tykro Pound Sand in the championship round could not propel him past Teel for the victory.
“I just kind of been watching that bull,” Leme said with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “If I came back No. 1, that was the bull I was going to pick to ride because he fits my style. He slings his head and is a perfect bull. That is why I picked him.”
Regardless, the No. 2 rider in the world standings still gained ground on Pacheco thanks to his 3-for-3 weekend.
Leme earned 360 points, compared to Pacheco’s 80 points, to cut Pacheco’s hold on the world No. 1 ranking to 1,710 points.
The 21-year-old won Round 1 – his PBR-leading 12th round win – with 88.5 points on Whiskey Bent and then rode Saint Joe for 87.5 points in Round 2.
“This helps me going 3-for-3 this weekend,” Leme said with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “It helps my confidence for the next event. I am going to Colorado Springs to try and make more points to go to the Velocity Finals and make more points to go to Vegas with a short distance and get that gold buckle.”
Both riders will be competing at next weekend’s Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour event in Colorado Springs.
As of now, only Pacheco is qualified for the Velocity Tour Finals whereas Leme has zero points in the Velocity Tour standings.
Fans can watch the Colorado Springs event exclusively on RidePass beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
Injury Updates
Dakota Buttar missed the final day of competition following a concussion he sustained in Round 1 during his 4.04-second buckoff against Buck Owens.
LOCKWOOD REPLACED BY DIVINO IN NAMPA DRAW (10-18-18)
Upon second thought, 2017 World Champion Jess Lockwood will not be riding in Nampa, Idaho, this weekend after all as he continues to recover from a torn right groin.
Two days after successfully riding a practice bull in Volborg, Montana, Lockwood has decided to withdraw from this weekend’s DeWalt Guaranteed Tough Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires.
Lockwood consulted with his local physical therapist and the PBR Sports Medicine team, including Dr. Tandy Freeman
“Just feeling sore yesterday morning and day after riding,” Lockwood said via text message. “Didn’t that night I rode, but I did yesterday and then today too.”
Lockwood was originally estimated to be facing an 8 to 12-week recovery when an MRI revealed the tear on Sept. 16.
The 21-year-old has been rehabbing for the last six weeks and originally believed he was good to go.
He had posted on his Instagram account throughout the week, expressing excitement about his return to competition.
Lockwood will be replaced by No. 43 Lucas Divino in the draw.
Divino takes on My Creation (0-0, PBR UTB) during Round 1 at the Ford Idaho Center on Saturday night.
Fans can watch all of the action exclusively on RidePass beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Lockwood has missed the last five events because of a torn right groin.
He first sustained the injury in Nashville at the Music City Knockout in August attempting to ride Locke & Loaded. He then aggravated the injury last month in Springfield, Missouri, during his 70-point ride on Powder Puff.
This weekend is the final regular-season 25th PBR: Unleash The Beast of 2018.
Fellow World Champions Cooper Davis (rib) and Guilherme Marchi (shoulder) will also miss the regular-season finale in Nampa.
Davis and Marchi are two of an additional five injured riders inside the Top 35 that will not be making the trip to Idaho. Also not competing are No. 15 Matt Triplett (wrist), No. 31 Sean Willingham (hamstring) and No. 33 Lonnie West (shoulder).
Meanwhile, No. 35 Marcos Gloria opted to decline his draw spot for Nampa so that he could go compete at the PBR Canada Monster Energy event in Edmonton on Saturday night.
Gloria will look to earn crucial world points in Canada, while the men on his heels will try to take advantage of all the points available in Nampa.
Divino trails Gloria by 227.5 world points.
Replacing the five additional injured riders and Gloria in the draw are No. 36 Brock Radford (-5 points behind Gloria), No. 37 Cannon Cravens (-40 points), No. 38 Emilio Resende (-100 points), No. 39 Cody Jesus (-110 points), No. 40 Alisson de Souza (-135 points) and No. 61 Chase Outlaw (-387.5 points).
No. 42 Rubens Barbosa is this weekend’s Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour invite following the 34-year-old’s victory in Rapid City, South Dakota, last weekend.
Barbosa is 190.84 points out of the Top 35 and is slated to face Ug Mug (0-0, PBR UTB) in Round 1.
World leader Kaique Pacheco has drawn Buck Nasty (0-0, PBR UTB) and leads No. 2 Claudio Montanha Jr. by 1,933.33 points.
Pacheco’s 5,246.66 world points is already more than Lockwood earned last year to win the world title (4,862.5).
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko