Led by Oklahomans Ryan Dirteater, L.J. Jenkins, Austin Meier, and Ryan McConnel, the Professional Bull Riders nationally-televised Built Ford Tough Series returns to the BOK Center on Friday, Aug. 12, and Saturday, Aug. 13, for the Express Classic presented by American Hoggers on A&E.

Meier, Jenkins and McConnel are all ranked in the Top 10, while Dirteater of Hulbert returned to BFTS action two weeks ago for the first time since March, and finished second in Thackerville, Okla.

Cousins Meier of Kinta and Jenkins of Porum, are ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, while McConnel of Atoka is ranked ninth.

Fans will be able to experience two nights of 8-second rides and jaw-dropping wrecks as the Top 40 bull riders in the world try to stay on animals 10 times their size.

The in-arena experience will be enhanced by the addition of a 27-foot by 48-foot high-definition LED board provided by GoVision of Argyle, Texas. The equivalent of a 55-foot HD television, the video screen is being brought from Cowboys Stadium to Tulsa.

Bull riding begins at 8 p.m. on Friday, and at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are available at: Arby's Box Office at the BOK Center, Reasor’s locations in Broken Arrow, Catoosa, Claremore, Jenks, Langley, Owasso, Sapulpa, Tahlequah and Tulsa, www.BOKCenter.com, by telephone at (866) 7-BOK-CTR.

Each of the 40 riders will ride on Friday and Saturday. Following Round 1 on Friday, the riders with the 10 highest scores will each compete with one more bull. Following Round 3 on Saturday, the riders with the 10 highest cumulative scores will advance to the Built Ford Tough Championship Round, where they will compete with one more bull. The overall event winner will be the rider with the highest combined score from all four rounds.

The first 21 events have produced 13 different winners, led by Valdiron de Oliveira and Robson Palermo, who have four victories each, and less than 2,400 points separate the Top 5 riders. There are 1,100 possible points available in Tulsa as the winner of the event will receive 300 points and each of the four round wins is worth 100 points plus the ride score.

Top-ranked Silvano Alves is only 200 points ahead of Oliveira, who won first last weekend in Billings, Mont. Two weeks ago, Alves took over the top spot from Oliveira, who was ranked first for 16 consecutive weeks and 17 of the first 19 weeks in 2011. Alves was the last No. 1-ranked rider before Oliveira, holding the spot for one week in January after winning in Anaheim, Calif. 2008 PBR World Champion Guilherme March has moved up to third place following back-to-back fourth-place finishes the past two weekends.

The action will be televised live in HD on VERSUS at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, and at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday. Play-by-play broadcaster Craig Hummer will be joined by two-time PBR World Champion Justin McBride, who will provide color commentary, and Erin Coscarelli, who will doing dirt-level interviews. BFTS telecasts are produced for the PBR by David Neal Productions, a Los Angeles-based production company led by 34-time Emmy® Award winner and Peabody Award winner David Neal, who serves as executive producer and creative lead.

Tulsa will be the 22nd stop on the nationally-televised BFTS, which makes 29 stops in 23 states. The season began at world-famous Madison Square Garden, and culminates Oct. 26-30 in Las Vegas at the richest bull riding event in the world, the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals. The Finals is where the 2011 PBR World Champion will be crowned and awarded the $1 million Built Ford Tough bonus.

Fans will be able to meet and get autographs from Meier on Thursday from 4-6 p.m. at Sam’s Club, 6922 S. Mingo Rd. in Tulsa.

Bass Pro Shops at 101 Bass Pro Drive in Broken Arrow, Okla., will host PBR Fun Day on Saturday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Family-friendly activities include stick-bull racing, bull roping, and mechanical bulls. PBR riders will sign autographs from 12:30-1:30 p.m. PBR in-arena announcer and experienced angler Clint Adkins will host a fishing seminar at 1 p.m., while Brandon Bates, an announcer for the PBR and host of “The Elk Chronicles” on the Outdoor Channel, will host a hunting seminar at 1:30 p.m.

About the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR)
The PBR is the world’s premier bull riding organization. More than 100 million viewers annually watch over 400 hours of primetime PBR programming on VERSUS, NBC, CBS and networks around the world. The PBR has awarded over $100 million in prize money, and 20 riders have earned over $1 million, including Justin McBride with $5.5 million – the most of any western-sports athlete in history. The PBR was nominated as 2010 Sports League of the Year at the Sports Business Journal Sports Business Awards, alongside the National Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. Nearly 2 million fans attend Built Ford Tough Series and Touring Pro Division events each year. For more information on the PBR, go to www.pbr.com, or follow on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TeamPBR and http://twitter.com/TEAMPBR.