Mason Taylor tops competition by five points, earns second 2026 victory on Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour

02.14.26 - News

Mason Taylor tops competition by five points, earns second 2026 victory on Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour

Taylor climbs to fifth in the PWVT standings with Nick Tetz continuing to lead at No. 1.

By Taylor Riemersma

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mason Taylor earned his second Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour event victory of the 2026 season at Rupp Arena Saturday night at Cooper Tires PBR Lexington.

Taylor (Maypearl, Texas) held the first spot in the draft heading into the Championship Round after riding Still Flyin’ Crazy for 87.40 points Friday night and Son of a Bass for 86.75 on Saturday. Both rides, the highest in each round, totaled a 174.15 aggregate score to elevate him to his first win since December 2025 at Beatbox PBR Tucson.

Taylor’s 136 points elevate him to fifth in the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour standings, still led by Nick Tetz (Calgary, Alberta). Elijah Jennings (Marietta, S.C.), Ezekiel Mitchell (Rockdale, Texas), and Macaulie Leather (Calliope, Queensland) round out the Top Five.

Kaleb Lewis (Kaufman, Texas) finished as runner-up with 169.05 total points on the weekend. Lewis tallied 84.55 points on Son of a Bass Friday before besting Rumble Strips for 84.50 points on Saturday. The finish marked his best of the season after appearing in his second PWVT event this season.

Closing out the podium finishers was Cody Hooks (DeRidder, La.) with a score of 166.60 points to add 51 points in the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour standings. Hooks rode Kevin in the opening round for 82.35 points, and he then recorded 84.25 on Weeble Wobble in the next go-around.

Romario Leite (Brotas, Brazil) finished fourth in Lexington with a score of 164.90 points. He combined with Spectacular for 82.55 points Friday night. In Saturday’s second round, he rose in the standings by besting Red Light for 82.35 more points.

Rounding out the Top Five finishers was Michael Lane (Tazewell, Va.) after coming in early Thursday for lead-up media. After watching the Kentucky women’s basketball team win Thursday night, Lane put up two rides in Lexington with an opening score of 81.70 points on American Spirit Friday. On Saturday, Lane lasted the full eight on Flatliner for a score of 83.05.

The riders tallied 25 qualified rides over the course of the event, with six cowboy athletes going 2-for-3 on the weekend.

The Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour continues this upcoming weekend in Reno, Nevada, on Feb. 20-21 at Reno Events Center.

Professional Bull Riders – Event Results

Cooper Tires PBR Lexington – Lexington, Kentucky

Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

1. Mason Taylor, 87.4-86.75-0-174.15-136 Points.

2. Kaleb Lewis, 84.55-84.5-0-169.05-81 Points.

3. Cody Hooks, 82.35-84.25-0-166.60-51 Points.

4. Romario Leite, 82.55-82.35-0-164.90-42 Points.

5. Michael Lane, 81.7-83.05-0-164.75-38 Points.

6. Walison Neves, 69.05-80.6-0-149.65-23 Points.

7. Ryder Carpenetti, 86.5-0-0-86.50-24 Points.

8. Flavio Zivieri, 0-86-0-86.00-23 Points.

9. Carlos Garcia, 85.6-0-0-85.60-21 Points.

10. Eli Vastbinder, 0-84.85-0-84.85-19 Points.

11. Vinicius Rodrigues Pereira, 84.75-0-0-84.75-17 Points.

12. Dylan Smith, 84.5-0-0-84.50-14 Points.

13. Tyler Manor, 84.25-0-0-84.25-13 Points.

14. Marcus Mast, 83.9-0-0-83.90-12 Points.

15. Alex Marcilio, 83.8-0-0-83.80-11 Points.

16. Lauro Nunes Vieira, 0-83.6-0-83.60-14 Points.

17. Lucas Martins Costa, 83.15-0-0-83.15-2 Points.

18. João Paulo Fernandes, 82.4-0-0-82.40-8 Points.

19. Dantey Eldridge, 80.7-0-0-80.70-8 Points.

Zane Cook, 0-0-0-0.00

Dener Barbosa, 0-0-0-0.00

Brody Robinson, 0-0-0-0.00

Dione de Souza Ribeiro, 0-0-0-0.00

Cole Trivette, 0-0-0-0.00

Dustin Herman, 0-0-0-0.00

Christian Clay Oliveira, 0-0-0-0.00

Chase Hamlin, 0-0-0-0.00

Douglas Franco, 0-0-0-0.00

Ednei Caminhas, 0-0-0-0.00

Douglas Lino de Souza, 0-0-0-0.00

Daniel Burke, 0-0-0-0.00

Ednélio Rodrigues, 0-0-0-0.00

Venn Johns, 0-0-0-0.00

Jerson Arantes, 0-0-0-0.00

Marcos Santos de Miranda, 0-0-0-0.00

Fabio Eleuterio, 0-0-0-0.00

Alex Jenks, 0-0-0-0.00

Damien Krushall, 0-0-0-0.00

Luke Nichols, 0-0-0-0.00

Brylee Smith, 0-0-0-0.00

2026 Professional Bull Riders Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Global Standings

(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5's, Points, Total Winnings)

1. Nick Tetz, 6, 3, 5, 454.00, $24,582.60

2. Elijah Jennings, 9, 2, 4, 400.00, $19,233.33

3. Ezekiel Mitchell, 9, 1, 4, 377.00, $16,390.00

4. Macaulie Leather, 9, 0, 5, 369.00, $27,477.70

5. Mason Taylor, 9, 2, 4, 362.00, $16,534.38

6. Wyatt Rogers, 14, 1, 4, 360.50, $23,354.63

7. Kase Hitt, 7, 2, 3, 348.50, $20,973.64

8. Grayson Cole, 12, 1, 3, 342.00, $16,448.75

9. Jaxton Mortensen, 8, 2, 2, 338.00, $14,783.33

9. Manoelito de Souza Junior, 17, 0, 6, 338.00, $16,442.63

11. Jared Parsonage, 3, 2, 2, 323.00, $116,566.29

12. Trace Redd, 8, 1, 3, 309.50, $18,167.08

13. Vinicius Rodrigues Pereira, 11, 1, 4, 306.00, $14,196.10

14. Andy Guzman, 10, 1, 2, 285.00, $13,480.00

15. Romario Leite, 12, 1, 4, 280.50, $13,744.21

16. Jean Fernandes Pereira, 14, 1, 5, 250.00, $14,312.41

17. Brody Robinson, 20, 0, 3, 226.50, $8,390.56

18. Afonso Quintino, 4, 1, 2, 220.00, $10,638.73

19. Zane Cook, 11, 0, 3, 216.00, $8,250.00

20. Dener Barbosa, 7, 0, 3, 215.00, $11,134.59

21. Daniel Keeping, 2, 1, 1, 214.00, $40,474.63

21. Kade Madsen, 5, 1, 2, 214.00, $16,072.11

23. João Paulo Fernandes, 6, 1, 2, 210.00, $9,240.00

24. Dione de Souza Ribeiro, 20, 0, 5, 205.50, $10,607.19

25. Dakota Buttar, 7, 0, 2, 204.00, $18,304.51

26. Kurt Shephard, 4, 1, 3, 199.50, $74,673.53

27. Lane Vaughan, 2, 1, 2, 184.50, $8,066.67

28. Jordan Hansen, 2, 0, 2, 178.50, $18,610.04

29. Caic Cassio Carvalho, 4, 1, 2, 173.00, $7,689.17

30. Bruno Carvalho, 6, 1, 2, 166.00, $22,271.67

31. Tahj Wells, 9, 0, 3, 163.00, $6,154.17

32. Rogério Venâncio, 1, 1, 1, 159.50, $7,476.30

33. Lucas Martins Costa, 15, 1, 3, 159.00, $7,606.38

34. Warley Oliveira da Silva, 2, 0, 1, 153.00, $3,519.17

35. Miguel de Jesus, 7, 0, 2, 152.00, $4,280.00

36. Cody Coverchuk, 5, 0, 2, 151.00, $8,860.84

37. Dalton Rudman, 8, 1, 1, 149.50, $6,140.00

38. Jake Gardner, 6, 0, 2, 139.50, $35,391.43

39. Cassio Dias, 3, 1, 2, 134.00, $20,641.00

40. Cleber Henrique Marques, 6, 1, 2, 133.00, $5,568.30

41. Thiago Salgado, 1, 1, 1, 132.00, $114,529.92

42. Coy Robbins, 3, 0, 2, 131.00, $5,733.38

43. Zane Hall, 5, 1, 2, 129.00, $10,938.38

44. Lucas Divino, 6, 0, 1, 127.00, $7,243.14

45. Marcus Mast, 6, 0, 0, 125.00, $2,470.00

Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media