03.07.19 - Unleash The Beast
Biggest winners of the Unleash The Beast cut
Some of the new riders in the Top 35 include both young up-and-comers and the oldest veteran on the premier series.
By Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – Now that eight Unleash The Beast events have occurred in 2019 and the majority of the top riders from 2018 have used all of their exemptions, the Top 30 of the world standings is starting to come into full view.
Here are five of the biggest winners of the 2019 cutline
The talented 18-year-old has said repeatedly this season how ticked off he was at failing to qualify for the 2018 PBR World Finals.
Cravens’ shortcomings in 2018 gave him some extra motivation as he has soared to No. 14 in the world standings, earning himself a full time draw spot on the Unleash The Beast.
The Porum, Oklahoma, bull rider didn’t wait long to get back onto the UTB this season after making his debut last October in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Cravens used a third-place finish at the season-opening Monster Energy Buck Off at The Garden, presented by Ariat, to push himself into the Top 10 of the world standings.
A right knee injury that occurred when he was stepped on following his 89.75-point ride on Pneu-Dart’s Muscles & Shovels in New York plagued him for the next month or so, but he has since rattled off at least one 87-point ride at three of his past four events.
Cravens is 6-for-19 (31.58 percent) with two Top-3 finishes in seven UTB events.
“I have been doing alright, but now I want to do better,” Cravens said. “I am ready to just have a good solid weekend and ride every bull they put under me. I just haven’t been consistent and whenever I was younger and going all to the bull ridings around the house I would ride everything they put me on. This is a bigger deal with ranker bulls, I need to get used to it.
“You have to get a couple rode a weekend if you want to stay on tour.”
Cravens is also a leading contender for Rookie of the Year. He trails Cody Jesus by 233.33 points in the ROY race.
Barbosa is the second-oldest rider on tour behind Sean Willingham (37).
Barbosa did not waste any time in trying to get back into the Top 30 of the world standings after failing to qualify for the World Finals for the first time since 2014.
“I am very happy for this because last year I got cut and I had a problem,” Barbosa said. “I work to stay in Top 10 and I will keep working hard.”
The 35-year-old began the 2019 season in the Land Down Under, overcoming back spasms to go 9-for-13 with five round wins and picking up 145 world points.
Barbosa’s trip to Australia helped him accumulate 31.18 percent of his current world points total, which has him ranked in the Top 15 of the world standings.
That has been the difference for the 2011 Rookie of the Year. Barbosa is only 4-for-22 (18.18 percent) in eight Unleash The Beast events.
“I don’t know what has happened with me,” Barbosa said. “I started riding good this year, but I have been riding bad. I know. I believe in myself and I can get back to riding good. I am very happy where I am in the Top 35 and I don’t have this problem for going back to Velocity. It is very hard, the second half of the season (if you are not on tour).”
All it takes is one big weekend to get into the Top 30, and that is what Lucas Divino has done.
2019 has been essentially a struggle for the rookie, who is only 6-for-19 (31.58 percent) in seven events.
However, Divino earned 320 of his 340 world points by finishing in third at the Ak-chin Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires, in January.
Divino trails Jesus by 298.33 points.
The No. 1 rider in the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour standings has struggled in four events on the Unleash The Beast, going 0-for-9 since making his debut in Oklahoma City.
Ride TV commentator Colby Yates believes Sobrinho is the best rider the Velocity Tour has seen thus far this season.
“Danilo Carlos Sobrinho did well on the Velocity Tour,” Yates said. “He did the best probably out of anybody. He placed consistently real quickly in the season to get up there. He hasn’t probably done what he could once he got on tour. I think he will figure out his way.”
Sobrinho is 6-for-11 with a victory and three Top-5s on the Velocity Tour.
The 32-year-old is also in contention for Rookie of the Year and sits 345.83 points behind Jesus.
Tinsman leads the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour with two victories. The No. 2-ranked Velocity rider went 5-for-8 at five Velocity events to keep himself inside the Top 30.
The 23-year-old made his 2019 UTB debut with an 86.5-point ride on Dynamite Cap in Sacramento, California, but has since bucked off six consecutive bulls on the premier series.
The bad news for Tinsman is that he is currently out of competition with a right groin injury.
Tinsman is going to sit out this weekend’s event in Duluth and test out the groin next weekend at the Dayton, Ohio, Velocity Tour event.
“The plan is to just keep working it out and stretching to get strength built back into it,” Tinsman said.
Tinsman is 393.33 points behind Jesus in the rookie race.
There are four active riders that finished 2018 ranked in the Top 35 that are no longer on the PBR’s top tour – Ramon de Lima (No. 75), 2018 Rookie of the Year Keyshawn Whitehorse (No. 72), 2017 Velocity Tour champion Alex Marcilio (No. 51) and Koal Livingston (No. 46).
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko