What was once one of the deepest title races in PBR history is fast becoming a chance for world No. 1 Renato Nunes to run away with it all.

In the two Built Ford Tough Series events since coming back from the summer break, the rest of the Top 10 riders are a combined 10-for-39. Five of those qualified rides are from Valdiron de Oliveira, who has moved from eighth in the standings to third.

Oliveira still trails Nunes by 2,123.5 points.

“If a guy doesn’t focus after getting thrown off his first one and concentrate on that next one, it’s going to be tough to catch a guy like Renato,” wrote J.W. Hart in column for the upcoming issue of Pro Bull Rider magazine. “But with the same deck of cards, you have to forget how far behind you are, because if you start thinking about that, it just puts that much more pressure on you. Those guys who are really truly champions? It doesn’t bother them. All they do is get on another one and prove their point the next time.”

Austin Meier, who has won four events this season, has gone 0-for-the-weekend at the past two, and although he’s maintained his second-place position, he trails Nunes by 1,707 points. McKennon Wimberly, who is enjoying a career-year, has also gone 0-for-5 in the past two events, and although he’s still in the Top 10, he’s now 3,918.75 points off the lead.

Unlike the event in Tulsa, Okla., when three of the Top 10 riders didn’t compete and a fourth failed to finish the event, all 10 riders competed in San Antonio.

Nunes made the short go for the second time in spite of having a less-than-stellar weekend.

“That’s when a guy is mentally set to be a World Champion,” Hart said.

The 29-year-old Brazilian bucked off his first bull in the opening round at Tulsa, but salvaged a win by covering the next three. Although he didn’t pull out another come-from-behind win in San Antonio, he did manage to make the whistle in Round 2.

Nunes has been among the most consistent riders all season, which makes catching him all the more difficult.

Only five times this season has Nunes bucked off two or more bulls in a row. His longest buckoff streak in 2010 is a mere four bulls. Not counting the Iron Cowboy Invitational, he’s gone 0-for-the-weekend only once this year.

“You don’t necessarily have to pull out an event win to say that you’re a World-Champion-caliber kind of guy,” said Hart. “You just have to pull it together and salvage what you can out of it and go on.”

With a third and fifth-place finish in the past two BFTS events, Oliveira is the only rider who has closed the gap on Nunes.

With eight events remaining before the PBR World Finals, the opportunities for the others are fading.

“It gets repetitive saying it,” Hart concluded, “but that’s what the really great champions were good at.

“Anybody can put three of them together on any given weekend to win an event, but it takes a real gifted guy to pull out a bull riding that starts off on the wrong foot. And it takes a real gifted guy to come back from an injury during the year, so, in the end, the best guy will win.”

NEWS and NOTES

J.W. Hart and his “PBR Now” co-host Justin McBride are expected to talk more about this topic and others tonight on RFD beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to call 877-731-6733 or send them questions by emailing pbrnowshow@pbrnow.com.

— by Keith Ryan Cartwright