His clearance came only after months of extensive testing and a process that proved more complicated than anyone initially expected. In the lead-up to the 2026 Unleash The Beast World Finals, Guiton saw two specialists while trying to determine whether he could safely return. Although the scans taken immediately after the wreck showed no brain bleed or apparent brain injury, the more in-depth testing revealed a tiny area of his brain that still needed additional time to heal. The issue was so small it had not appeared on the initial imaging, but it was enough for doctors to keep him out and continue monitoring his recovery.

July testing included blood work designed to help indicate whether his brain was still healing. According to Guiton, some of his results were even better than those of the average 20-year-old. His doctors ultimately determined that he had fully healed and was at no greater risk than any other bull rider competing.

Bull riding will never be without risk, but doctors determined Guiton is no more vulnerable than anyone else climbing into the chutes.

For months, however, he had to accept something far more frustrating than pain: He felt normal.

“I never had any side effects or none of that,” Guiton said. “I just needed more time to let it completely heal, and that’s the part that got me. I felt like I could ride, but I just needed more time to heal.”

Sitting out is difficult for any competitor. It was especially brutal for a rider who entered Salt Lake City ranked No. 2 in the world and believed he belonged in the championship fight.

Guiton watched the season continue. He watched the World Finals. He watched his best friend, John Crimber, win the gold buckle and another of his closest friends, Marco Rizzo, claim the Rookie of the Year title — all while sitting on the sidelines doing the math, carrying the one and calculating every possible outcome as the races tightened around them.

On the final day, as the championship unfolded without him, Guiton found himself crunching numbers and tracking every score, trying to determine exactly what each rider needed and whether his friends were going to finish the job.

He was more nervous watching than he would have been riding.

“It’s way easier to just ride,” he said. “Way easier to stay on for eight seconds and be done with it.”

Still, Guiton resisted the temptation to force his way back prematurely. He has already qualified for three World Finals, but the résumé can make it easy to forget how much career remains in front of him.

He is still only 20.

“I want to be able to ride bulls for hopefully maybe 10 more years,” Guiton said. “To be able to do that, I think I’ve got to take care of my body right now. After that is over, I want to be healthy and get to do what I want to do afterward.”

The maturity required to make that decision did not make the wait easier. It simply made it necessary.

When Guiton finally returned to the practice pen last week, he did it in the most bull-rider fashion possible: late at night, surrounded by friends and trying to escape the July summer heat.

At approximately 11 p.m., Guiton and his buddies held what he described as a little “midnight bull bucking.” He climbed aboard his first bulls since February and quickly discovered that the feel had not left him.

“I didn’t really expect to feel that good coming back,” Guiton said. “I got on that first one and just picked right up where I left off. I’ve been riding really good, so I’m excited.”

He later entered a local bull riding and added three more outs, bringing his early comeback total to six. His elbow was sore, as it often is, and his groins were tight following the first session. By the second set of three bulls, however, his body had begun settling back into the work.

More practice outs are planned before Guiton makes his official return at Oklahoma Wildcatter Days, July 31-Aug. 2 in Oklahoma City. Before then, he expects to get on bulls at a junior rodeo he and his father help produce, followed by another Sunday session at Chicken Hill.

Chicken Hill became more than a training ground during his recovery. The Cherryville, North Carolina, native is the son of former bull rider Josh Guiton, who launched Chicken Hill Bucking Bulls with Clay’s help when he was still a kid. With his competitive schedule paused, Guiton poured his time into growing the family operation, organizing its weekly events and developing a routine that can continue even when he returns to the road.

The crowds have grown. Everyone has learned their responsibilities. Sundays now run smoothly enough that Guiton can leave for the 2026 PBR Teams season without worrying that the operation will stall in his absence.

The time away also gave him a chance to remain connected with his teammates in blue.

At the Cowboys’ training camp, Guiton could not yet ride, but he participated in team activities, worked out with Navy SEALs and tried golfing for essentially the first time.

Only three holes were played before dinner, but Guiton reported that he was “actually not too bad” — a promising review from someone whose bull riding scores remain significantly more impressive than his golf scores.

More importantly, he spent time around a Carolina roster that has changed since the Cowboys won their first Teams Championship in 2025.

Guiton has also built a strong relationship with Keyshawn Whitehorse, a former PBR Rookie of the Year and one of the grittiest riders in the sport. After becoming a staple of the Arizona Ridge Riders, Whitehorse landed in Carolina through one of the offseason’s biggest blockbuster trades. The two now speak multiple times a week, sometimes trading thoughts about bull riding and sometimes simply catching up.

Whitehorse gives the Cowboys another proven closer and another perspective inside an already deep locker room.

“There are so many guys that are that good, and every one of them has a different approach at it,” Guiton said. “It’s cool to hear every one of them.”

Carolina also added Thiago Salgado, Jadon Hayes and Trey Kimzey to a protected roster that includes Guiton, Jess Lockwood, Adriano Salgado, Keyshawn Whitehorse and Guilherme Valleiras. Jake Lockwood joins developing riders Kaleb Lewis and Elijah Jennings on the reserve roster, giving the defending champions even more depth entering the season.

The depth creates competition, but Guiton has no intention of surrendering his familiar place in Head Coach Jerome Davis’ five-man lineup.

Third.

Guiton experimented with other positions in the past. He enjoyed riding last, but there was a problem: If the outcome had already been decided, Davis occasionally used the fifth frame to give a bench rider an opportunity.

Guiton made his position on that strategy clear.

“I told Jerome that was not going to work for me,” Guiton said. “I wanted to get on.”

He did not particularly enjoy leading off, either. Third became the right fit.

Because the arena break generally follows the first four riders of a game, Carolina’s third position gives Guiton the opportunity to influence the direction of the second half. Whether the Cowboys need momentum restored or pressure applied, he can establish the tone before the game moves toward its closing frames.

“I like being third,” he said. “It kind of sets the tone for the second half. Whether something good or bad happens, I can get someone set for the second half.”

It is a role Guiton has earned.

During the 2025 Teams season, he tied Daniel Keeping’s league record with 10 consecutive qualified rides. Now he wants the record outright.

He also wants the regular-season Teams MVP award. Winning the 2025 Teams Championship MVP apparently was not enough for Guiton. Now, he wants the season-long honor claimed by his close friend John Crimber in each of the past two years.

After his injury removed him from the individual world title race, Guiton redirected his competitive energy toward the summer. His personal goals are ambitious, but they remain secondary to helping Carolina defend its championship.

“The MVP is my goal now,” he said. “Then obviously, the main goal is another team world title, for sure.”

Any individual records, he believes, will follow if he handles the sport the right way — one bull at a time, without allowing the weight of the comeback to overwhelm the reason he started riding in the first place.

“I’m trying to have fun again and do it all over and ride bulls,” Guiton said. “Really, that’s my main goal now. Just go have fun.”

His clearance arrived during a two-week break in the Teams schedule, giving him time to sharpen his timing before potentially returning to the lineup in Oklahoma City.

Davis has not revealed what kind of bull he may select for Guiton’s first game back.

Maybe it will be a comfortable spinner. Maybe it will be an opportunity to post 90 points immediately.

“He might give me a nice one,” Guiton said. “He might give me one to be 90 on first one off the bat. Either way, I’ll be ready and I’ll be excited. It doesn’t matter to me.”

There is one bull Guiton already knows he wants.

Lieutenant Dan.

Guiton remembers nearly everything about the weekend in Salt Lake City. He remembers putting his rope on the bull. He remembers John Crimber standing nearby. He remembers telling Crimber that Lieutenant Dan was the perfect size — exactly the kind of bull he likes.

He remembers nodding.

He remembers the bull hitting his head in the chute and seeing down the bucking chutes as Lieutenant Dan reared backward.

Then, nothing until the hospital.

The judges had thrown a re-ride flag because of the chute trouble, but Guiton was in no condition to accept it. Since the wreck, those responsible for Lieutenant Dan have changed his delivery, and the bull has not experienced the same issue.

Guiton has continued watching him.

“I really like him,” he said. “He’s a good bull.”

Would he accept the rematch as his first out back?

Guiton would.

He does not believe Coach Davis would allow it.

“I would probably tell him to put me on him,” Guiton said. “But I think first one back, I don’t think he would let me get on him. Eventually, I would love that. I’d like a rematch for sure.”

The desire is not rooted in anger toward the animal. It is the instinct of a competitor who does not want the final chapter between himself and a bull to be written while he was unconscious on the dirt.

Lieutenant Dan represents the moment Guiton’s season stopped. A rematch would offer the opportunity to begin again on his own terms.

There are other reminders from that night that Guiton carries with him — including a pair of Monster Energy chaps that medical personnel cut from his body at the hospital.

He was displeased then.

He remains displeased now.

But instead of replacing them immediately, Guiton had the chaps stitched back together. He wore them during a recent practice session, scars and all.

“They’re still salvageable,” he said. “But they do have a story behind them now.”

For the Teams season, Guiton has a new pair in Carolina blue and a new helmet built from the latest available hockey shell. Through Richard Childress, he was also fitted for a helmet at the Cleveland Browns’ facility as Riddell explores the possibility of developing protective headgear specifically for bull riders.

The project remains in development, but Guiton sees promise in updating equipment for a sport whose newest purpose-built helmet design is roughly a decade old.

It is another reminder that his comeback is not about pretending Salt Lake City never happened.

It happened.

He remembers the bull. He remembers waking up surrounded by friends. He remembers telling hospital nurses they needed to cut him loose because he was fine. He remembers the frustration, the waiting and the months spent watching from outside the arena.

Now he also remembers the first bull back — and the feeling of picking up exactly where he left off.

When the Carolina Cowboys return for the second weekend of team competition, Guiton intends to pull on the blue chaps, reclaim the third position in the lineup and pursue the goals that were temporarily taken from him.

Another record.

An MVP award.

Another Teams Championship.

And, somewhere down the road, eight more seconds with Lieutenant Dan.

The silence in Salt Lake City once left an arena wondering whether Clay Guiton would ride again.

He has his answer.

He is healthy. He is cleared.

And he wants his spot at the top back.