It’s been nine months since Zack Brown has competed in a third long round with a chance to win a Built Ford Tough Series event.

Not since October of last year, when he last won a Built Ford Tough Series event, has Brown enjoyed a weekend like the one he’s currently having. But after a long spell of what he described as “a really frustrating season,” the Hawaiian-raised 31-year-old bull rider has won the first two rounds of the Express Classic in Tulsa, Okla.

“I’m looking forward to Round 3,” said Brown, after winning Round 2 with an 89.75-point effort on RMEF Bugle. “I don’t know what bulls are going to be out, but with the way the momentum is going, I just have to do my job, and that’s put one leg down each side, strap my hand in tight and hang on for the ride.”

When about the last time he could say he was looking forward to the third day of a three-day event, he said, “Well, there hasn’t been a Round 3 at the [Touring Pro] events, so I’ve been looking forward to Round 3 for a long time.”

Mired in a season-long slump, Brown has now ridden at only nine of 21 BFTS events in 2010 after finishing eighth in the world a year ago. In eight previous events this season, he’s failed to qualify for the short round.

“It’s been a really frustrating season,” he said, “but, you know what, the past is the past and the future is the future, and I’m not going to get anywhere looking back, so I just need to keep looking ahead.”

This weekend, he’s one of four riders to have gone 2-for-2 in the opening rounds that have accounted for a combined total of just 18 qualified rides.

His combined average of 178.25 is just over four points better than Silvano Alves (174) and far enough ahead of Valdiron de Oliveira (170) and LJ Jenkins (162) that either will need to make up a full score to have a chance at winning here in Tulsa.

“The funny thing about the bull riding business is it can change just like that,” Brown explained. “It’s one of those deals that you just have to put up with the stuff when it’s going on and really enjoy it when it’s going right.”

The final two rounds get underway at the BOK Center beginning at 2 p.m. CT.

— by Keith Ryan Cartwright