COLUMBUS, Ohio - For the 15th year in a row the Built Ford Tough Series will host an October event in Columbus, Ohio, and for the 10th time it will be the last regular-season BFTS event leading into the World Finals.

The annual October event overlaps with the All-American Quarter Horse Congress.

Now in its 46th year, Congress takes place at the Ohio Expo Center, where the PBR first held its Columbus event. However, the facility there held roughly 3,000 to 4,000 fans and the PBR quickly outgrew the location.

In fact, PBR livestock director Cody Lambert recalled the original building only having room for four bucking chutes across the front.

This year's Cooper Tires Invitational is being held downtown at Nationwide Arena.

Friday's first two rounds will get underway at 8 p.m. ET, while the final two rounds conclude, on Saturday, beginning at 6 p.m.

This is the 19th trip overall to Ohio.

The other visits to Ohio were Cincinnati in 2005 and 2008 along with Cleveland in 2000 and 2001.

The 15 appearances tie Columbus with Anaheim, Calif.; St. Louis, Mo.; and Nashville, Tenn., for the third-most, while the 15 consecutive appearances tie for the third most with Anaheim and St. Louis, Mo.

Billings, Mont., has the most appearances and consecutive appearances with 17, while Albuquerque, N.M., has the second-most appearances and consecutive appearances with 16.

Columbus is the last regular season BFTS stop and the final opportunity for riders to qualify for the World Finals in Las Vegas on Oct. 24-28.

The World Finals are where the PBR World Champion will be crowned and awarded the coveted championship buckle and a $1 million bonus. The richest bull riding event on the planet, the World Finals has a total purse of over $2 million.

PAST WINNERS: 
Columbus was one of three wins for Silvano Alves in 2011.

Past winners in Columbus include four World Champions, three Rookies of the Year and nine-time World Champion and PBR co-founder Ty Murray, who won in 1999 and 2001. Mike White, who will be inducted into the PBR Ring of Honor later this month, won in 2004 and 2007.

Here is a complete list of past winners:

Silvano Alves, 2011
Colby Yates, 2010
Cody Nance, 2009
Zack Brown, 2008
Mike White, 2007
Justin McBride, 2006
L.J. Jenkins, 2005
Mike White, 2004
Ross Johnson, 2003
Ednei Caminhas, 2002
Ty Murray, 2001
Adriano Moraes, 2000
Ty Murray, 1999
Donald Owens, 1998

HIGH-DOLLAR RIDES: 
Two of the richest bull rides in history have occurred in Columbus. Ross Coleman won $100,000 for riding Tuff-E-Nuff in 2001 and McBride won $150,000 on Scene of the Crash in 2007.

SEASON WINS: 
With one BFTS event remaining, here are the total individual wins for the current 2012 season:

4 J.B. Mauney (Baltimore, Arlington, Albuquerque, Greensboro)
2 Silvano Alves (Detroit and Glendale)
2 Guilherme Marchi (Anaheim and Tampa)
2 Austin Meier (Billings and Philadelphia)
2 Robson Palermo (Des Moines and Nashville)
2 Fabiano Vieira (Indianapolis and San Antonio)
1 Marco Eguchi (Sacramento)
1 Jordan Hupp (Portland)
1 L.J. Jenkins (Kansas City)
1 Cody Johnson (Springfield)
1 Kody Lostroh (Tulsa)
1 Cody Nance (New York)
1 Renato Nunes (Pueblo)
1 Valdiron de Oliveira (Oklahoma City)
1 Chase Outlaw (Houston)
1 Lachlan Richardson (Uncasville)
1 Chris Shivers (Atlanta)
1 Luke Snyder (Idaho)
1 Harve Stewart (Thackerville)

Mauney's four event wins ties his career high of four, which he originally set in 2009 when he finished second in the world standings behind Lostroh. Here's a look at the all-time list of top single-season event winners.

8 Justin McBride, 2007
6 Kody Lostroh, 2009
6 Justin McBride, 2005
6 Cody Hart, 1999
5 Austin Meier, 2010
5 Chris Shivers, 2000
4 J.B. Mauney, 2009 and 2012
4 Robson Palermo, 2011
4 Valdiron de Oliveira, 2011
4 Zack Brown, 2009
4 Guilherme Marchi, 2008
4 Justin McBride, 2001, 2004 and 2006
4 Wiley Petersen, 2003 and 2006
4 Adriano Moraes, 1997, 2001, and 2004
4 Mike White, 2003
4 Jim Sharp, 2002

LIVE EVENT CENTER: 
Visit the Live Event Center at www.pbr.com/live for live streaming video of BFTS events, scores, photographs and more.

TELEVISION BROADCAST: 
CBS Sports Network will broadcast action from Round 1 and the first short round in HD at 10 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 12 and will have an encore airing at 1 a.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 13.

NBC will broadcast Round 3 and the Built Ford Tough Championship Round in HD at 4:30
p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 14. Check local listings for confirmation in your area.

Veteran broadcaster Craig Hummer will provide the play-by-play. Color commentary will be provided by nine-time World Champion and PBR co-founder Ty Murray. Dirt-level interviews will be handled by Marty Snider.

Follow Keith Ryan Cartwright on Twitter @PBR_KRC.

Follow Jack Carnefix on Twitter @JackCarnefix.