LAS VEGAS – The anxiousness that comes with qualifying for the PBR World Finals reached its peak during the championship round of the 2018 Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour Finals on Saturday night.

Alisson de Souza – a last-minute replacement for Silvano Alves in the championship round – was the first to pose the question.

Souza had just ridden Handsome Jeff for 88 points to rocket up to second in the event standings.

The 25-year-old quickly headed over to the scoring screen outside rider walkoff and asked if he made the World Finals.

“I’m happy I got a good bull,” he said with the help of Alves translating. “I tried 100 percent and this is the last chance to go to the Finals. I’m very happy I could cover my bull. I hope to God I go to the Finals and my dream come true for my career.”

Meanwhile, three rides later and Luis Blanco was making a beeline dive for the scoring screen as well.

Blanco had just ridden Anonymous for 81 points and he anxiously looked at the screen.

“Can any of the guys riding next knock me out of a spot?” Blanco, who last qualified for the World Finals in 2016, asked.

The 30-year-old then nervously walked toward the bucking chutes when told there was a chance he could become ineligible for a Wild Card nomination if he fell out of the Top 5 of the event standings.

In a surprising twist, though, the final six riders of the event – Jose Vitor Leme, Travis Maguire, Sean Willingham, Juan Carlos Contreras, Paulo Lima and Chase Outlaw – all bucked off.

Blanco wound up safe.

“I am really happy, you know,” he said. “I’m glad everything I did to get there was worth it. That last ride was really important. This decided if I made the Finals or not.”

Souza not only finished 34^th in the world standings, but he also won the Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour championship and $50,000.

His championship round ride pushed him into the World Finals, and knocked No. 35 Lonnie West out of the World Finals.

“It is going to be great,” Souza said with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “I am going to ride with the same confidence that I had here. Ride for the fun and enjoy my first Finals. I know is going to be great.”

Blanco and Contreras earned the two wild card invites designated for the top-two finishers in the Velocity Finals that had yet to qualify for the World Finals.

Outlaw and Souza had already qualified as Top 35 riders.

Meanwhile, Lima, No. 3 in the Velocity Tour standings, and Michael Lane, No. 4 in the Velocity Tour standings, earned the two Velocity Tour standings wild cards seeing as No. 1 Souza and No. 2 Outlaw had already qualified.

When told he was going to the World Finals despite his 0-for-2 showing inside the South Point Hotel Casino & Spa, Lane let out a deep exhale in the locker room and leaned back in his chair. 

No. 35 Gage Gay also was left wondering in those final minutes of the night if he would still make it to the Finals, eventually getting confirmation that he got in with the last Top 35 spot.

It was a wild night for the bubble riders and wild card winners, except for Francisco Garcia Torres.

The 21-year-old and two-time Mexico national champion was all smiles on Saturday night.

Torres had already clinched the international wild card in Round 2 when Cliff Richardson bucked off King Richard in 3.38 seconds.

Torres had ridden Mr. Valentine for 86 points in Round 1 on Friday, but he was bucked off by Sneaky Pete in 7.93 seconds in Round 2.

However, none of the other international wild card contenders – Richardson, Fernando Henrique Novais and Brock Radford – made a qualified ride.

“I’m really happy because that’s what I was looking for since I knew I was coming to this deal,” Torres said with the help of Francisco Morales translating. “This has always been my dream, to make it to the PBR Finals.”

PBR Wild Card Winners
Paulo Lima (RVT Standings)
Michael Lane (RVT Standings)
Luis Blanco (RVT event results)
Juan Carlos Contreras (RVT event results)
Francisco Garcia Torres (International wild card winner)

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko