COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Until 11 a.m. CT on Thursday, Ricky Aguiar was not supposed to be in Colorado Springs.

That is, until he got a call from the PBR’s competition department.

The fourth alternate for the Colorado Springs Classic, Aguiar was the next man up when Ryan Miller pulled out of the event due to a family emergency.

“They called me actually on Wednesday and said I might have a spot,” Aguiar said, “And Thursday they called me and confirmed that I did have a spot.”

In less than 24 hours, Aguiar was on the road.

He left his home in Stephenville, Texas, at 5 a.m. Friday morning, driving all day to arrive at the Broadmoor World Arena in time to nod his head at the final Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour event of the regular season.

“It was like 10 hours. It wasn’t too bad,” Aguiar said of the drive.

Anyone watching him compete Friday night would have had no idea that he had to shake off the late notice and the rust of a long car ride.

Aguiar rode Sledge Hammer for 87.5 points, good enough to tie him with Cannon Cravens for second place in Round 1. Cravens earned his 87.5 points on Magic Mike in the first ride of the round.

“I just needed to ride him and just have fun,” Aguiar said. “It was right there around the right into my hand.”

The ride came at an opportune time for Aguiar, who needs just 10 points to climb into the Top 30 of the Velocity Tour standings and secure himself a spot at the Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour Finals, held Nov. 2-3 at the South Point Hotel Casino & Spa in Las Vegas.

Several riders are tied for No. 30 in the standings, and for Aguiar, who’s tied for the No. 37 ranking, his best bet of qualifying for the RVT Finals is to leapfrog all of them with a victory on Saturday night in Colorado Springs.

Only one of those riders, though, Bryan Titman, came through with a qualified ride on Friday. Titman rode Ring of Fire for 85 points.  

Fans can watch the conclusion of the Colorado Springs Classic Saturday night on RidePass, beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

Aguiar started the season off strong with seven Top-10 finishes between November and March, but he then went into a downward spiral.

He arrived in Colorado Springs with 12 consecutive buckoffs dating back to August prior to ending his cold streak on Friday night.

“I can always be better,” Aguiar said. “It started off good, but I kind of let myself get lazy. Next year’s definitely going to be a lot better.”

Aguiar made his PBR debut in 2007 and has been a fixture on the Velocity Tour since making his debut in 2015.

He has yet to compete at the Velocity Tour Finals in his career.

Despite needing to chase down world No. 2 Jose Vitor Leme, who won Round 1 with an 88.5-point ride aboard Sharky, Aguiar knows the best approach to get an event win under his belt and a trip to the Velocity Finals is to just keep things simple.

“Just ride my next bull,” he said. “One bull at a time.”