NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Dalton Kasel limped his way out of the locker room Sunday evening with a look of frustration and a grimace of pain.
Kasel attempted three bulls during the final 40 minutes of competition at the Jack Daniel’s Music City Knockout, presented by Cooper Tires, with the goal of leaving Bridgestone Arena as only the second rookie in PBR history to win a PBR Major.
Instead, reigning three-time World Champion SweetPro’s Bruiser bucked Kasel off in 7.7 seconds in the final round of competition to put a crushing blow to the 20-year-old’s day on CBS national television.
It was the third straight buckoff for Kasel, who said he was attempting to ride through a right groin injury, after beginning the day with a sensational 92-point ride on World Champion Bull contender Fearless.
“I just got leaned back and a ways out,” Kasel said. “Honestly it was intense. He come back the other way and kind of got me lazy, not riding him. Anyways, he decided to come back the other way, and I was waiting on him. I wasn’t waiting in the right spot, apparently.”
Kasel’s ride on Fearless is a new career high for the Rookie of the Year contender competing in just his third Unleash The Beast event.
The career-best ride propelled Kasel into the early lead in Nashville, and was a big-time statement that he is here to stay.
“He is a cool sucker,” Kasel said. “J.W. (Hart) told me to keep fighting and don’t quit. I had to try my ass off and keep hustling. He was never going to weaken. He is another bull, and that is the name of the game, staying on them. That is what I was trying to do.”
The ride also wound up being the highest-scored ride of the weekend, netting Kasel the $26,000 Ride Score bonus.
“Money’s money,” Kasel said. “It helps a lot.”
He leaves Bridgestone Arena with $47,410.81 and 450 points toward the world standings.
In fact, Kasel has won $78,511.60 in the last month alone at all levels of competition.
The Muleshoe, Texas, bull rider goes from No. 37 in the world standings to No. 21 courtesy of his 2-for-5 performance in Nashville.
Nine-time World Champion and CBS analyst Ty Murray said Kasel showed in Nashville that he has tons of potential, but that he also has some work to do to refine his skills.
“I am very impressed with him,” Murray said. “He has to make a few mechanical changes for getting on these rank bulls. He is not strong enough and he is too little to be falling back with those Hail Marys, but he has the parts that matter. You can’t teach those. I am real excited to see what we can see from him. If he can remember you have to ride that jump and that kick, if he can make that a little better, we can see some really cool stuff from him.”
Kasel is 4-for-10 in three UTB events with two Top-10 finishes.
After riding Fearless, Kasel continuously appeared in pain following buckoffs against Bad Decisions (7.36 seconds), Big Black (3.38 seconds) and Bruiser.
Of course, Kasel will not use that as an excuse by any means.
“Yeah, I was hurting, but I’m not going to blame it on that,” he said. “I should stay on everything I get on.”
Kasel plans on meeting with Dr. Tandy Freeman this week in Dallas to get evaluated before deciding if he will still ride at the upcoming Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour event on Sept. 4 in Window Rock, Arizona.
“I’m heading to Tandy’s this week and get fixed up,” Kasel said. “He’s just going to look at me, take some X-rays and some stuff like that.”
Twenty of the Top 35 riders in the world are tentatively expected to ride in Window Rock.
Fans can watch the event exclusively on RidePass beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET.
The Unleash The Beast has a one-week hiatus before resuming on Sept. 6-7 with the Anaheim Invitational at the Honda Center.
“I might go to Window Rock,” Kasel said. “I don’t know. I might be smart and listen to him. Will see.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko