The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) Bull Team Challenge will begin this weekend in Winston-Salem, N.C. on February 1 & 2 at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum during the Built Ford Tough Series presented by Wrangler’s (BFTS) North Carolina Invitational hosted by Jerome Davis and Salem NationaLease and brought to you by Pike Electric. Twenty-two teams have been formed, each providing $50,000 for the opportunity to win their share of the $1.1 million total competition purse. The North Carolina Invitational kicks off the first of 17 events on the 2008 Bull Team Challenge tour. The other tour stops are: Anaheim, CA; St. Louis, MO; Kansas City, MO; Portland, OR, Tacoma, WA; Albuquerque, NM; Nampa, ID; Omaha, NE; Billings, MT; Des Moines, IA, San Antonio, TX; Tulsa, OK; Los Angeles, CA; Nashville, TN; Grand Rapids, MI; and Las Vegas, NV.
Five to eight teams will compete at each designated Bull Team Challenge event, each team being made up of five bulls with two alternates. Only the first ‘out’, or scored performance, for each bull will count toward the total team score—regardless of how many times a bull bucks during an event. The team whose total score is the highest for the weekend wins $20,000, with $10,000 being awarded for second place. Teams are only eligible to compete at 5 events. The top teams will compete for an amazing $500,000, with $250,000 going to first place, in Las Vegas in conjunction with the PBR’s 2008 Built Ford Tough World Finals on Oct. 31- Nov. 2nd and Nov. 6 – Nov. 9th at the Thomas & Mack Center.
“This is going to be a great added element to the PBR’s competitions. Now the team owners and stock contractors will be competing for big money as well as the bull riders,” said PBR’s Livestock Director and co-founder Cody Lambert. “The gives the PBR fans a chance to have a vested interest in the PBR and the athletes without actually having to own any bulls.”
Team owners span the spectrum from PBR stock contractors to corporate businessmen and fans of professional bull riding, including 3-time Grammy-nominated singer Jewel’s record label Big Machine. Below is a list of the competing team names and their owners for the 2008 Bull Team Challenge:
TEAM NAME | TEAM OWNERS | ||
Boyd-Floyd Bullco.com | Boyd Floyd Bull Co. | ||
ExclusiveGenetics.com | Exclusive Genetics | ||
Mandan Mafia | Chad Berger and Clay Struve | ||
Berger/Ryken/Rosen II | Larry Ryken and Julie Rosen | ||
4 C’s Bucking Bull | 4 C’s Bucking Bulls | ||
D&H Cattle Co. | D&H Cattle Co., Josh Enlow, Dewey Enlow and Jeff Gilbert | ||
Page/ Haines | D&H Cattle Co. and Margy Haines | ||
Lone Star Bulls | Diamond S Bucking Bulls and Beutler & Son Rodeo | ||
Big Machine | Pronto Entertainment, LLC & Mark/Cody Hebert | ||
Diamond “G” | Steve Gilbert and Cindy Gilbert | ||
Twisters | McCoy Ranches, Mike Davis, C&G Livestock, Bryan Smith, David Findley and Joe Pat Cassels | ||
Nafzger-Traits | Carl Nafzger's Wrangler Bull Team | Red Horns | McCoy Ranches, C&G Livestock, David Findley, Gary Lohman, Mike Davis, Joe & Nevada Berger, Roger Callison, Chad Berger & H.D. Page |
West Coast Cowboys | Steve Benetok Francis Dandy, Robert Mitchell, Dale Chavez, Dr. Michael Steppe | ||
Moreno/Exclusive Genetics | Julio & Cindy Moreno | ||
Berger/Ryken/Rosen | Larry Ryken and Julie Rosen | ||
Priest Creek Ranch | Gary Scholten | ||
Corey/Yamber/Lange | Carl Yamber, Mike Corey, Tom Lange, Leslie Lange, Robin Corey | ||
South Point | Michael Gaughan/South Point and Don Kish | ||
The Tom and Jerry Show | Elise Griffin | ||
Ron White’s Comedy Tour | Tom Teague and Jerry Nelson | ||
Way Out West | Buddy Pinz, Sheri Pinz Dave Mac Ivor and Fawn Mac Ivor | ||
For more information and the official rules on the PBR's new Bull Team Challenge, please visit http://www.pbrnow.com/competition/BullTeams . About PBR: More than 100 million viewers tune in each year to the PBR on FOX, NBC, VERSUS and on a host of foreign networks across the globe. With approximately 400 hours of prime time programming annually PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on air, in addition to attracting over one and one half million live event attendees each year with its multi-tiered event structure which includes the marquee Built Ford Tough Series presented by Wrangler, the Copenhagen Bull Riding Challenger Tour, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Tour, and the Discovery Tour, designed specifically for entry level contestants. The PBR is headquartered in Pueblo, Colo., and has over 1,200 PBR bull riders competing in more than 300 PBR sanctioned competitions in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. ### |