AUSTIN, Texas – Mason Lowe wanted so badly to impress his home state fans last weekend in Springfield, Missouri, but his riding elbow was too mangled to allow him to ride like he knows he is capable of.
Lowe has been trying to ride during the stretch run to the 2017 PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals with a right elbow (riding arm) injury that he sustained a few weeks before the BFTS resumed off its summer break.
The 24-year-old had decided to go to an amateur bull riding event in West Plains, Missouri, to get ready for the second-half opener in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he got hung up on his bull.
“I went to a little bull riding and got twisted up like I did (here in Springfield) and it kind of tweaked it,” Lowe said. “I then had a bull that drug his butt and welled me. I had to get myself out (with the bullfighters struggling). I was hung up for a long time.”
Lowe competed at three of the four BFTS events since then, but every time he was left leaving the arena clutching his elbow, which has been an on-going issue for him since he turned pro six years ago.
In Springfield, the Exeter, Missouri, bull rider got twisted and hung up to Lucas Oil Air Up There in Round 2.
“That really put the bread and butter on it,” Lowe said. “My whole arm swelled up.”
Dr. Tandy Freeman diagnosed Lowe with a UCL tear, and Lowe has decided to hold off on getting surgery until after the World Finals on Nov. 1-5.
The No. 15 rider in the world standings will take the next six weeks off to rehab and strengthen his elbow as best he can to try and withstand five days of grueling bull riding inside T-Mobile Arena.
“Instead of my usual sitting around and letting it heal, I am going to do everything I can to make it better,” Lowe said. “I am going to try to figure out some stuff and ask Tandy and all the guys (PBR Sports Medicine) what I should do to strengthen it up. That way maybe it will hold up.
“There is no guarantee it will hold up. It is frustrating.”
Lowe has been amidst a career-year with a 36.17-percent riding average two 90-point rides He was on pace to surpass his previous career-high of qualified rides (22) after going 17-for-47 in 16 events.
Lowe posted four Top-5 finishes and he became only the second rider to ever reach 8 seconds on Smooth Operator when he rode the perennial BFTS bull for 90.75 points at Iron Cowboy in February.
2017 will be his third consecutive World Finals qualification.
Some have wondered why Lowe would choose to hold off on surgery and not get a head start to the recovery process so that he can miss less time in 2018.
“I don’t know,” Lowe responded. “It might be more like a pride deal, knowing you have made it. Your whole goal is to make it and your whole goal is to win a world title. Right now, I am not going to win a world title. So I might as well wait and try to ride there. When I take a break for a week-two weeks, it feels alright.
“I feel like a month and a half is going to help me out a little bit.”
Lowe is planning on using his frustration with the injury to fuel his desire to work that much harder to get back for the World Finals, but he is especially focused on making an even better run in 2018.
No one, including himself, has seen what Lowe is capable of doing with a completely healthy riding arm in PBR competition.
“It is frustrating, but this still is my best year,” Lowe concluded. “I never have been 100-percent healthy because this elbow has been hurting me forever. If I truly get it fixed and actually feel good all the time, I am really going to put the work and time in to make a push.”
Additional Injury Updates
Nevada Newman is heading to the operating room once again.
The 24-year-old had just returned to competition from right shoulder surgery in July, and he is now facing an additional six-month recovery after fracturing his right shoulder socket last weekend, per Dr. Tandy Freeman, attempting to ride Hurricane Hustler in the Built Ford Tough Championship Round.
Newman was 51st in the world standings.
No. 7 Fabiano Vieira was hoping he would be riding in Austin this weekend, but his left shoulder is still nowhere near where he wants it to be after he was wrecked out in Thackerville, Oklahoma, two weeks ago.
Vieira said on Thursday evening that he will meet with Freeman next Wednesday to see if he can potentially ride at the Buck Off the Island, presented by Cooper Tires, event in Uniondale, New York. If not New York, Vieira is hopeful he can return for the Rumble in the Rockies in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Sept. 30.
“My shoulder is still too sore,” Vieira said. “I will visit Tandy next week and see if I can go to New York or Colorado. My (broken) jaw is good now.”
The 35-year-old is 1,546.67 points behind world No. 1 Kaique Pacheco with six regular-season BFTS events remaining.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko