• There are 16 bulls making their Built Ford Tough Series debuts in the opening round this weekend.
• Round 2 is a mix of veteran bulls and newcomers. Another 15 bulls make their BFTS debuts compared to experienced athletes like Black Smoke, who has been bucked 51 times now at the BFTS level.
• With eight previous career BFTS outs, MoeBandy.com is the veteran bull for Round 1. Ednei Caminhas will be happy to know he’s been ridden four times, all of which have come this year.
• The five highest ranked bulls in Round 1 are Wild Nights, Space Cowboy, Atomic Bomb, Grey Dog and Evil Doer.
• Two of the Top 3 riders in the world standings – Guilherme Marchi and J.B. Mauney – are matched up with them. Marchi has Grey Dog (43.75), while J.B. Mauney has drawn Evil Doer (43.65). Missouri native Luke Snyder will try his hand with Wild Nights (43.94).
• Only two riders appear on “Injured Status” this week: Brian Canter, who will return in Uncasville, Conn., and Mike White, who is expected to don a helmet when he returns next week in Ontario, Calif.
• Jacoby Elliott is 21st in BFTS Alternate Money Standings this week. However, after his win Pendleton, Ore., on Tuesday, he could move to as high as 4th on the standings next week and once again become eligible for the BFTS.
• Five riders – Austin Meier, Guilherme Marchi, Luke Snyder, Robson Palermo and Sean Willingham – have all faced their Round 1 matchup once before, but only two were successful. Willingham scored 87.75 on Slow Ride last year in Dallas and Marchi was 86 on Grey Dog in Round 3 of the 2007 PBR World Finals.
• Six riders – Billy Robinson, Cody Ford, L.J. Jenkins, Matt Bohon, Renato Nunes and Shane Proctor – have all faced their Round 2 matchup once before, but with very little success. Two riders – Bohon and Proctor – made the whistle. Bohon was 84.5 on Keep Wishin’ last year in Des Moines. Proctor was only 47 points on Ft. Worth back in 2007 in Round 1 of a BFTS event in Kansas City.
• Guilherme Marchi leads all riders with 10 rides of 90 points or better in 2009. The defending World Champion has 36 for his career.
• There’s a reason Kody Lostroh is No. 1 in the world—the Colorado cowboy has covered 54.55 percent of his bulls when the bull score is 45 points or better.
• Of the Top 3 contenders for the 2009 Daisy Rookie of the Year, Cody Nance has the lowest riding percentage (26.32 percent) and yet he has a $3,700 lead over Skeeter Kingsolver because of his BFTS event win in Pueblo, Colo.
• Caleb Sanderson has the highest riding percentage – 48.28 percent – of all 16 rookies, and his 14 qualified scores are only four shy of Kingsolver, yet he has had 19 fewer outs in 2009.
• In 26 BFTS events, the PBR has paid out $977,833.54 to event winners in 2009. That means this weekend in Springfield the yearly payout to just the winners will exceed $1 million.
• Last weekend in Reno, J.B. Mauney won the Ford Moment of Truth when he covered Troubadour for 90.5 points. It was the fourth time this year a rider has covered Troubadour for the win. The Ford Moment of Truth has only been collected 12 out of 26 times this year.
• In 57 long rounds this season, the stock contractors collected $160,000 compared to $125,000 by the bull riders in the Enterprise Ride with the Best competition.
• Four bulls – Bones, All In, Big Tex and Chicken on a Chain – have been named “Bull of the Event” this year, while another trio – Troubadour, Code Blue and Voodoo Child – have earned the honor twice. Bones, Chicken on a Chain and Voodoo Child are in Springfield this weekend.
• Six of the Top 15 bulls in 2009 will be featured in the short go: Bones, 1; Chicken on a Chain, 4; Voodoo Child, 8; Lucky Strike, 9; I’m a Gangster, 12 and Show Time, 14.
• Sting Machine is making his short go debut after just one previous out this season. He bucked off Valdiron de Oliveira in 2.6 seconds in Round 3 of the Tulsa event.
• Road to Vegas: All roads are leading to Las Vegas! The Built Ford Tough Series is in Springfield this weekend, but at this time of the season the PBR is all about the World Finals, which is Oct. 30 through Nov. 8. Call 866-PBR-SHOW for ticket information or log onto www.unlvtickets.com to order your tickets for what will be one of the tightest finishes for the world title.
• Worldwide leader in sports: After reading all the content – Web features, blogs and Podcasts – at www.pbrnow.com, fans can get even more coverage from ESPN by logging onto www.espnbullriding.com.
• Tweet, tweet: Be sure to follow the PBR on Twitter at www.twitter.com/teampbr.
— by Keith Ryan Cartwright