By the Numbers: Keyshawn Whitehorse becomes 15th different rider to win big in 2025
Whitehorse secures second win of his career, advances to No. 8 rank in Tacoma, Washington.
By James Youness
FORT WORTH, Texas – Becoming the fifteenth different cowboy to secure an event title in 2025, Keyshawn Whitehorse stormed into Tacoma Dome and claimed his first event win in four years during last weekend’s Unleash The Beast regular season finale.
And what a finale it was.
One of just four men to stay perfect throughout the two-day, three-round showcase, the Arizona Ridge Riders standout reminded fans he lives for the tour’s pressure-packed moments.
Seeing each of the four previous riders during Sunday’s epic short go exit their respective head-to-head showdowns with qualified rides merely set the table for a man like Whitehorse.
Especially after breezing by his opening round opponents in Badlands (88 points) and Deep Creek (86.75 points) in Round 1 and 2, respectively.
However, there’s always been something special about the twelfth and final out of the exclusive round. An added element of suspense or drama if you will.
Clinging to his third round animal athlete in Mike’s Motive, the McCracken Spring, Utah, native needed 89-plus points to finish his mission.
And once the dust settled and a big ole “89.5” was shown on the big board, the cowboy couldn’t help but produce a fierce smile on the way to collecting his bull rope and exchanging pleasantries with Brinson James and the evening’s bullfighters.
Securing the big win courtesy of his flawless weekend, Whitehorse’s shark-climbing invitation represented just his second-ever UTB win as he improved to the No. 8 overall rank.
With his initial win coming more than four years ago in Del Rio, Texas, back in January of 2021, the 27-year-old serves as one of the many veterans who have thrown several-season winless streaks out the window as the parity-ridden landscape continues to offer opportunity at each and every stop of the way on the road to the 2025 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast.
And while the sharing of event-based honors has been quite entertaining this season, only one man will exit AT&T Stadium May 18 with the ultimate prize.
But with No. 1 Dalton Kasel sitting tight with 1,258 UTB points to his name atop the standings, Whitehorse would need to essentially double his season total in order to make a run for the buckle.
Which seems like quite the gap.
The key for Whitehorse would involve him securing an outright event win during the first of three postseason stages May 8-11 before making the most of his final four opportunities inside AT&T Stadium May 17-18. All, of course, while hoping the hottest man in the game somehow doesn’t ride any more bulls successfully.
Knowing Kasel has only ridden four more bulls on the season makes it seem possible, with 33 conversions to Whitehorse’s 29. However, Kasel’s five event wins and 14 round victories have given him several legs up at this point. So, while Whitehorse is bringing some intense momentum with him into the season-culminating showdown, the title is Kasel’s to lose.
Back to take a look at some of the rankest rides and craziest occurrences from the weekend, By the Numbers returns to break down Whitehorse’s late-season heroics, an intensifying Rookie of the Year race and tons of other outlying numerals from last weekend’s showcase in Tacoma, Washington!
.75 Short:Cort McFadden may have needed a bit of a runway introduction in 2024, having spent the first few months of his professional career competing within the Pendleton Whiskey Velocity Tour circuit. However, once he got his shot on the grandest stage following a productive performance in Denver, Colorado, he hasn’t looked back. Not once.
Ending his rookie campaign with a respectable No. 16 finish, he found himself qualified for the 2024 PBR World Finals as his beginner’s luck continued. Continuing to prove himself throughout his sophomore season, it’s become rather evident it’s his skillset and commitment that are doing the talking. And that the beginner’s luck narrative can be saved for somebody else. He’s meant to be here – and reminded fans of that sentiment in Tacoma, eventually coming up just three quarters of a point (.75) short from claiming his first UTB win. Still able to stay perfect on the weekend, McFadden combined opening round scores via dances with The Colonel (85.75 points) and Haunted Hotel (87.5 points) as he warmed up his chaps. Staying flawless throughout his final out, he bested Blowhard for a round-winning 90.25 points en route to sealing the deal on his sixth Top 5 and eighth Top 10 finish of the season. Appearing in each of the tour’s 23 regular season meetups, McFadden managed to ride at least one bull in 21 of them, easily making him one of the sport’s most consistent riders.
Third Place 4 No. 2: Ending his regular season slate with a tour-best 40-for-61 record, No. 2 Brady Fielder officially logged the most outs (61) and conversions (40) amongst the premier series pack. All while managing the highest ride percentage outright at 65.57%. And after capturing his tenth Top 5 finish of the 2025 season last weekend in Tacoma, he’s bringing a LOAD of momentum with him to Fort Worth, Texas, next week as he looks to trim down the 126 UTB points separating him from No. 1 Dalton Kasel.
One of just three men to go 3-for-3 in Tacoma, Fielder exited head-to-head matchups with each of his opponents in victorious fashion, earning scores aboard Ah Hell (87 points), Destination Unknown (87 points) and Ricky Vaughn (88.5 points) throughout his flawless feat. Bringing home 79 UTB points for the third-place honors after going a combined 1-for-5 during his past two appearances, this was exactly the kind of rebound effort fans expected to see in Week 23.
While Fielder can’t concern himself with the fact that Kasel doctored out of Sunday’s short go, earning just 18 UTB points on the weekend, he can 100% pump his chest out a bit knowing he knocked down seven more bulls than the tour’s current leader. And when we remember Fielder led the pack for his own mid-season stint, we know he’s more than capable of making this quite the drag race once the pack invades the Lone Star State.
166.83: Despite competing in just 10 events during his first-year campaign after sustaining an early-season injury, Hudson Bolton is now just 166.83 UTB points behind the tour’s current 2025 PBR Rookie of the Year frontrunner Anderson de Oliveira after turning in a productive fifth-place finish last weekend in Tacoma. As the top-scored man to go 2-for-3 throughout the showcase, Bolton wasn’t able to record a qualified ride for his New York Mavericks within Saturday night’s 6 vs. 6 showcase. However, he rose to the occasion during each of his remaining two outs, going the distance atop Big Chili in Round 2 for 87 points to eventually earn a last-minute invite to the exclusive short go. Stumbling into a matchup against the ever-revered Cool Whip, the 19-year-old stepped in and stepped up, collecting a cool 88.25 points while knocking down one of the tour’s most challenging bulls.
Entering next month’s 2025 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Eliminations, which will represent the youngster’s first-ever qualification to the season-culminating showdown, ranked No. 26, he’s got at least two more opportunities to collect some much-needed points in the first-year shootout. However, with both Oliveira and Elizmar Jeremias set to compete in Cowtown Coliseum May 8-11 just the same, he’ll need to log some quality conversions if he wans to continue working his way up both the UTB And Rookie of the Year standings. Sporting a 17-for-30 (56.67%) slate during his first trip around the premier series circuit, he’s got the fourth-best ride percentage on tour (minimum 30 outs). And when we consider he’s finished Top 16 in nine of the ten UTB events he’s attended, math suggests he’ll bring a solid effort to the first of three postseason stages next week!
263-85.25: The score wasn’t that close. Team members were keyed into their own respective gold buckle chases. But fans were still treated to one hell of a Monster Energy Team Challenge, presented by Camping World, finale thanks to the likes of one John Crimber and his energetic Florida Freedom unit. Outscoring their rival New York Mavericks three bulls to one, 263-85.25, the red, white and blue squad stemming from sunny Sunrise, Florida, cruised to the victory en route to claiming the overall best-of-three series, two to one. And sure, the Freedom’s 19-year-old phenom in Crimber may have been a little injured. Nothing big enough to keep him from resuming a world title hunt, though. On the weekend his favorite football player Travis Hunter was drafted second overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars, it was only right he put on his own show. After earning a re-ride during his opening dance, even a banged-up Crimber wasn’t settling for his initial, unideal score. Putting his fractured collarbone worries aside, the kid immediately accepted his second chance. Both with a sense of pride and with a desire to further climb the event leaderboard – all while furthering his odds of claiming the 2025 PBR World Championship next month.
Scored a healthy 88 points during his dance with Peterbilt, he kickstarted some opening round momentum while putting a flashy finish on his team’s second win of the season. With the fourth season of PBR Camping World Team Series action just around the corner, his father turned Head Coach Paulo Crimber certainly seemed happy with the end result.
Thiago Salgado and Yan Victor Cunha matched Crimber with 8-second spectacles of their own, marked 88 and 87 points, respectively. And for as good as it was to see the squad go 3-for-6 overall, it’s hard not to zoom in on Crimber, who remains just 483 UTB points behind No. 1 Dalton Kasel, who finished No. 13 overall inside Tacoma Dome.
