MANCHESTER, N.H. — Somewhere in the exit row of a plane headed north, a cowboy sat buckled in head to toe Monster Energy gear — sweatshirt, sweatpants, right down to the drawls. The destination was Manchester. The forecast was cold. The message was clear: bull riding season was back.

By Saturday night, Dalton Kasel made sure everyone inside a sold-out SNHU Arena felt exactly the same way.

Kasel capped the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast season opener with a walk-off 89.50-point ride Saturday night aboard UTZ BesTex Smokestack, sealing the Manchester buckle and claiming his 12th career UTB event victory. With it, the Texan surged to No. 1 in the world standings after the first stop of the 2026 season.

“This cold isn’t for this Texas guy, this cold is bone chilling,” Dalton Kasel said after the win.

Bone-chilling or not, Kasel’s season is already burning hot.

The Championship Round unfolded as a pressure cooker, featuring four lead changes and five riders who entered the short round a perfect 2-for-2. When the dust settled, the final three finalists had covered their bulls for 88 points or better. It was bull riding at its sharpest — and Kasel delivered the final word with a Monster ride mic drop.

When it came time to make the call, Kasel leaned on the four-legged teammate he knows best.

UTZ BesTex Smokestack and Kasel have now matched up seven times, with three of those rides landing exactly at 89.50 points. Kasel’s highest score on the bull checks in at 91.50, a reminder that when the moment calls for precision, this pairing delivers exactly what the doctor ordered.

“That bull’s awesome. He’s strong, and he’s been around for a long time,” Kasel said. “I don’t know, something about me and him, we just fit together.”

There was no hesitation behind the chutes — or when he called the bull’s name into the microphone at center stage.

“It’s something that I’ve just had success on,” Kasel said. “He never feels just great anytime I get on him, but it’s worked out every time I have, and so that’s why I pick him.”

The weekend began with a statement. On Friday night, Kasel closed out the final out of the round with an 86.75-point ride aboard Magic Trick, setting the tone early in the UTB campaign. He followed it up Saturday by opening Round 2 with an 85.35-point ride on Sweet Action, positioning himself squarely in the hunt before delivering the Saturday-night walk-off that brought the New Hampshire crowd to its feet.

For Kasel, the victory carried weight beyond the buckle.

After leading the Unleash The Beast standings for much of 2025, Kasel finished runner-up after being passed late by eventual world champion and his PBR Teams Series teammate Jose Vitor Leme. Leme took the Manchester weekend off to continue recuperating from the recently concluded PBR Teams season, leaving the door open for Kasel to make an early statement in the new title chase.

“I am incredibly blessed; I love riding bulls,” Kasel said. “This isn’t a job right now. This is something I truly love. Last year I let some event wins right at the beginning slip away. This year we’ll try to do better and be more consistent.”

Consistency has long defined Kasel’s career. Born weighing just five pounds, the Muleshoe, Texas, native has grown into one of the heaviest hitters in PBR history. Known as “Mr. 90-pointer,” Kasel was the 2019 PBR Rookie of the Year and a cornerstone of the Austin Gamblers’ 2024 PBR Teams Championship roster.

Before bull riding took over, Kasel was a shooting guard on the basketball court and lined up as a corner and running back on the football field. Athletic roots run deep in his family — his father was a college athlete — and those early lessons in discipline and drive still show up every time Kasel nods his head.

Even now, with the world lead after one event, Kasel refuses to look too far down the road.

“Just gotta keep pushing,” he said. “It’s a long season. This is one of 18 [regular-season] events, so we got 17 more to go, so it’s not over yet. So just keep going. And the Lord’s kept me healthy and stuff, and so I’m just going to continue just doing what he designed me to do.”

World Finals may be months away, but Manchester offered an early reminder of what’s coming. From a Monster-clad cowboy in an airplane exit row to a Texan braving the New England cold, Unleash The Beast didn’t wait for warm weather.

Manchester brought the cold.
The King of the Kasel brought the heat.