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Cooper Davis rode 3 of 4 bulls and lead wire to wire to win his 2^nd event championship of the season, earning a critical cache of points and confidence.  Cooper won Round 1, his 4^th of the season, placed 2^nd in Round’s 2 and 3 and had won the event already before failing to cover his event championship round attempt.  However that failed ride may have more consequences than a clean sheet in Billings.  Cooper appeared to injure his groin on the attempt; initial observations from Sports Med are that it may not be too serious, but that remains to be seen with two events in the next 6 days.  Cooper earned 163.50 points and improved 2 positions to fourth in the PBR UTB world finals standings with 645.50 points.  This was Cooper’s 10^thevent championship round qualification (ridden 3 of 10 bulls), he has ridden 22 bulls in total which ranks T – 2^nd on Tour and his 47.83 % riding percentage ranks 5^th.  Cooper has been ranked inside the top 7 since the first week of the season; no other rider has been able to maintain this level of consistency throughout the season.

Kaique Pacheco rode 3 of 4 bulls highlighted by winning the event championship round, his 6^th round win of the season and finishing 2^nd overall in the event.  This marks his 7^th top 3 UTB event finish and he earned a critical 116 points to remain 1^st overall in the PBR UTB world finals standings with 916.50 points.  Kaique has now held the top spot for three consecutive weeks, and remained inside the top 4 of the standings for 13 consecutive weeks; he leads the Tour with 12 event championship round qualifications (riding 7 of those 12 attempts); he leads in both bulls attempted (56) and bulls ridden (28); his 50.00 % riding percentage ranks T – 3^rd; his 6 event round wins ranks 2^nd; his 2 event wins T – 2^nd; and he has 8 top 5 finishes and 10 top 10’s.

Three times he has ridden for 90+ points which ranks T – 3^rd, one of which was in the Indianapolis 15 – 15 (1-28-2023) aboard Ricky Vaughn for 93 Points.  This score remains the highest marked ride on the UTB Tour so far this season.  In honor of fallen PBR rider Mason Lowe (1993 – 2019), PBR awards the rider with the highest score of the season with The Mason Lowe Award.

Eli Vastbinder went 0 for 2 this weekend and is currently 24^th in the PBR UTB world finals standings with 219.50 points.

Cooper Davis went 1 for 3 highlighted by placing 4^th in round 1 and finishing 6^th overall in the event.  Cooper earned 28 points and improved to sixth in the PBR UTB world finals standings with 482.00 points.  This was Cooper’s 9^th event championship round (ridden 3 of 9 bulls), he has ridden 19 bulls in total which ranks 5^th on Tour and his 45.23 % riding percentage ranks 7^th.  Cooper has been ranked inside the top 7 since the first week of the season; no other rider has been able to maintain this level of consistency throughout the season.

Kaique Pacheco went 0 for 2 and held pointless in Nampa.  He remains 1^stoverall in the PBR UTB world finals standings with 800.50 points and continues to either lead or threaten to lead in all major statistical categories.  He has remained inside the top 4 of the standings for 12 consecutive weeks; he leads the Tour with 11 event championship round qualifications (riding 6 of those 11 attempts); he leads in both bulls attempted (52) and bulls ridden (25); his 48.08 % riding percentage ranks 3^rd; his 5 event round wins ranks T – 2^nd; his 2 event wins T – 2^nd; and he has 7 top 5 finishes and 9 top 10’s.  Three times he has ridden for 90+ points which ranks T – 3^rd, one of which was in the Indianapolis 15 – 15 (1-28-2023) aboard Ricky Vaughn for 93 Points.  This score remains the highest marked ride on the UTB Tour so far this season.  In honor of fallen PBR rider Mason Lowe (1993 – 2019), PBR awards the rider with the highest score of the season with The Mason Lowe Award.

Post-Race Quote: “Solid day, honestly, I just want to thank everybody on this No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevy, GMS Racing, and GMS Fabrication. We needed this. We just haven’t had a clean couple weeks. We didn’t have a winning truck tonight, but I feel like we executed well. I felt like we got all we could out of it. I think we were three wide about ten percent of the race. They did a great job prepping the track. Fortunately, we got to race and hopefully we can use this to build some momentum up.” 

With all the unpredictability that is dirt racing with the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks, how adaptive do you have to be?

“I think you always have to be adaptive. The track changes a lot here and it did seem like the bottom prevailed for the most part. Most of the time here it will go bottom, top, then middle but the bottom prevailed. You could make the bottom and the top work if you had to. Shoutout to everyone who prepped the track. I think they did a great job.” 

Briggs Madsen has been cleared for competition and is scheduled to return this week in Nampa.  Another round of practice bulls this past week have him ready to go.  Briggs is currently 51^st in the PBR UTB world finals standings with 40 points.

Eli Vastbinder went 0 for 1 this weekend, opting not to compete in round 2 due to injuries sustained in his buck off in round 1.  Eli and I talked this morning and this is nothing new, and nothing that will keep him out of the draw this upcoming weekend in Nampa.  Eli is currently 22^nd in the PBR UTB world finals standings with 219.50 points.