Guiton leads Eliminations aggregate thanks to huge Round 2 win
After missing out on his first World Finals in 2024 due to injury, Clay Guiton is back with a vengeance in 2025.
By Darci Miller
FORT WORTH, Texas – In 2024, Clay Guiton qualified for his first World Finals.
However, in early March, he lacerated his spleen, kidney and adrenal gland, forcing him to doctor out of the rest of the season. While he was still high enough in the standings at the end of the season to qualify for the World Finals, he wasn’t medically cleared to compete.
He instead spent his time in Fort Worth pulling the rope for John Crimber, who was ranked No. 2 in the world.
“I was helping John all week and he was fighting for a world title, and to not be able to be in the situation myself, it really sucked,” Guiton said. “It was very disappointing for me. It got to me pretty good. I’ve been working at this since I was 4 years old. To have to sit out and watch the World Finals when I did make it, it did take a toll on me.”
Guiton was healthy enough to compete in his first PBR Camping World Team Series season in the summer and fall, going 8-for-18 (44%) for the Oklahoma Wildcatters. (He’s since been traded to the Carolina Cowboys.)
When the 2025 Unleash The Beast season came around, Guiton was eager to shed the specter of his season-ending injury in 2024.
Perhaps too eager.
“At the beginning of the season, I let that affect me in my riding more than it should have,” he admitted.
Guiton competed in 22 regular-season events in 2025. In the first 11, he had three Top-10 finishes. In the last 11, he had five Top-10 finishes, including the first UTB event win of his career in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
“A couple of weeks ago, I got to looking,” Guiton said. “It was right before Albuquerque (in late March). I got to looking and I was 30th in the world, and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s not going to work.’ So I decided I wanted to fight for a world title and not fight for a spot on tour, so that’s what I’ve been doing.”
In the five regular-season events from Albuquerque to the end of the regular season, Guiton finished in the Top 5 four times, including his win in Sioux Falls, and was a stunning 12-for-16 (75%).
He’s continued that momentum into the 2025 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast.
Far from sitting on the sidelines, Guiton leads the Eliminations aggregate after two rounds, winning Round 2 with a 91.25-point ride on Eyes On Me.
“Last night, I was pretty lucky to pick that bull,” Guiton said. “That’s the bull I won the event on in Sioux Falls. So I was excited about that all day. And he had a little better trip with me today, so it felt good and it worked out.”
He’s taken home 117 points towards the UTB standings so far at the World Finals. Ranked No. 30 on March 28, Guiton is now ranked No. 5, 547 points behind No. 1 Dalton Kasel, who’s 0-for-2 in Fort Worth.
With hundreds of points still available, a world title is theoretically still in play for Guiton.
“It just boosts your confidence to know you’re a Top 5 guy in the world, but that’s where I know I’m supposed to be,” Guiton said. “I know I should be there, and that’s where I’ve been thinking I should be all year.”
Still fresh in his mind, and giving him the perspective of a veteran, is his missed opportunity in 2024.
“It makes you grateful for this opportunity and not take it for granted because I know, based on last year, it could be taken away at any time,” Guiton said. “So while you’re doing it, you might as well have fun with it, and that’s what I’m doing right now. I’m just having fun. I made it a job at the beginning of the year, I feel like, and put the wrong kind of pressure on myself. And now I’m treating it as I’m just having fun riding bulls, and it’s working a lot better for me.”
Guiton will take on Let’s Roll in Round 3 (8:45 p.m. ET on RidePass, the PBR App, YouTube and X, and 9 p.m. on the Cowboy Channel).
“At this point, I really don’t care,” Guiton said of his next opponent. “I feel like they could load any of them and I could ride ‘em right now.”
While he’s thrilled with his new round-winner buckle and is having a great time with his buddies in the locker room, Guiton is laser-focused on his goal and each step he needs to take to get there.
“We’ll worry about tomorrow when it comes,” he said. “One at a time, six more to go.”
