ST. LOUIS – Joe Frost appeared to be a man among children in many ways last month at the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour event in Denver.

The five-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo not only is literally taller and stouter than most of his peers, but Frost also has a decent amount of experience compared to many riders on the Velocity Tour trying to make their way to the PBR’s Unleash The Beast.

It is one reason why Frost says he will feel less like a rookie Friday night at Enterprise Center in St. Louis for the Mason Lowe Memorial.

“I don’t want this to be taken the wrong way, but I have been riding bulls professionally for a long time and if I didn’t think I was good enough – who knows, maybe I’m not – I wouldn’t even try.”

Frost is making his premier series (Unleash The Beast) debut this weekend after beginning the 2019 season 6-for-9 on the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour and winning his first Velocity event in Oakland, California.

The 26-year-old is ranked No. 36 in the world standings heading into this weekend.

He was supposed to ride in Glendale, Arizona, last month, but he had to pull out of the event because of a groin injury.

Frost said prior to boarding his plane to St. Louis Friday morning that his groin is feeling better.

St. Louis will be his second PBR event back from the injury. Frost went 0-for-1 at the Grand Rapids, Michigan, Velocity Tour event on Feb. 2.

“It’s good and strong now,” Frost said. “My main focus right now is on St. Louis, which I am really excited about as it will be my first appearance on the PBR’s biggest stage.”

Frost is slated to face Nutmeg in Round 1.

Fans can watch the action exclusively on RidePass beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET.

If all goes well this weekend, Frost will be able to ride at next weekend’s Iron Cowboy, presented by Ariat, in Los Angeles at the historic STAPLES Center.

Frost is 260 points behind No. 14 Danilo Carlos Sobrinho, who is one of 11 riders currently not seeded on tour ahead of Frost in the world standings.

The idea of adding another prestigious victory to his resume, and his first of the PBR side, is not lost to Frost.

Frost has major rodeo wins under his belt including the 2018 Ponoka Stampede and 2014 Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.

“I have Los Angeles penciled on my calendar, and I am hoping to be there, for sure,” Frost said. “It would be pretty neat. I have only won a few ‘prestigious’ events or rodeos in my career and I would like to add to the list.”

Frost admitted there might be a few nerves for his UTB debut, but that he does not expect the bright lights or big stage to bother him.

“It is bull riding,” Frost said in Denver. “That is the main thing. What I have been to, just the Velocity events and stuff, I get we get to experience the atmosphere and stuff at the NFR. In my mind, I guess I am hoping, and from what the guys told me, it will be like going to the NFR every weekend.”

In fact, getting the opportunity to ride rank bulls on a consistent basis every weekend was one of the major reasons why Frost decided to make riding in the PBR a full-time priority in 2019.

The idea has been on his mind for years, but it was last fall when Frost truly started to contemplate making the switch.

The Randleman, Utah, bull rider had just ridden three-time PBR World Champion Bull SweetPro’s Bruiser a few months earlier at the PRCA event in Rocksprings, Wyoming, for 90.5 points.

“I’m at the point now, I drive around hoping to draw a bull that really bucks,” Frost said. “Something I could be 90 on. I think there is opportunity for that more often (at PBR). A lot of rank bulls go to both, but they are spread out and you don’t get as many opportunities (at rodeos).

“I was able to draw Bruiser at a $3,000 rodeo last year. I just look at how excited I was for that and how I was able to elevate my riding and I want to be at that level.”

Frost is also ready to spend more time at home in Utah with his wife, Kylee, and not be so focused on going up and down the rodeo trail.

“I am married now and have 150 head of cows,” he said. “I am getting to where I enjoy being home a little more than spending so much time on the road. I kind of decided this is the route I was going to go. Just because of the fact that I was gone for three months, and, shoot, it is going to fit things better.

“We are working on buying 40 acres right now to be a hay field in Utah. If I get the summer off, I can go to a few rodeos on the weekends. I could be home all week and put up my own hay and my dad ain’t gotta do it for me.”

Frost is a second cousin to the late Lane Frost, who tragically died in a bull riding accident during the 1989 Cheyenne Frontier Days.

PBR Director of Livestock Cody Lambert said before the start of the season that Joe had the ability to reach the Top 35, but that he will take some time to adjust.

“He is tough enough, but it will take some adjusting,” Lambert said. “It will be like Cody Teel. It takes an adjustment, but Joe is definitely tough enough to give it a try.”

Frost actually reached out to Teel – the 2012 PRCA champion – for advice on making the transition during an autograph signing at the 2018 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

2018 was Teel’s second season in the PBR, and the fellow five-time NFR qualifier is currently No. 26 in the world standings.

“He is really excited for it, and I am too,” Teel said. “He has had a lot of success over there. I didn’t offer much advice. He pretty well knows the deal. You have a shot to win every time. Anyone that has rodeoed for a long time, that is the deal. You have to keep going. You may not have a good one every time throughout the year, but when the guys started the PBR they wanted to give a guy a chance to win every time. He knows that.

“It begins and ends with your riding. You don’t have to worry about all the other stuff. He is excited about that part of it.”

Teel expects Frost to make a smooth transition to the PBR and be a full-time, premier series rider in due time.

Like Frost, Teel also won his first Velocity Tour event.

Teel actually then made his PBR premier series debut at the 2017 Iron Cowboy.

“Joe is a pretty stout guy and he tends to do better on bulls that buck that are rank, up and down and have a lot of power,” Teel said. “That is what the PBR has. He is pound for pound a strong bull rider. That is what it takes.”

Frost has won over $1 million, and he is not done with rodeos by any means.

He is just focusing on his new goal of qualifying for the 2019 PBR World Finals.

“The ultimate goal would be to be at the PBR World Finals and in the hunt for a world title there,” Frost said. “We will see how these winter rodeos go and if I win enough money that I am in it then I will go to my 40 rodeos in the summer to make sure it counts.

“We will see how it goes.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko