SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Daylon Swearingen will happily take the dark bags under his eyes this weekend when he steps foot inside the JQH Arena for the PFIWestern.com Invitational.

Swearingen has been relentless this week as he tries to qualify for the 2019 PBR World Finals and the 2019 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

The 20-year-old competed at either a bull riding or rodeo every day, and he will have traveled more than 6,000 miles by the time he arrives in Springfield on Friday afternoon.

“I am kind of ready for a small little break just because I have been rodeoing so hard,” Swearingen said last weekend in Anaheim. “I am going to keep going strong.”

The leading PBR Rookie of the Year contender is currently ranked No. 11 in the PBR world standings and 16^th in the PRCA bull riding standings.

Swearingen first went 1-for-2, riding Dennis The Menace for 84 points, at the PBR Banner Bank Classic Touring Pro Division event in Pendleton, Oregon, on Monday night.

He then headed to Abilene, Texas, for the West Texas Fair & Rodeo where he posted a 78-point ride.

Next up, Swearingen headed north to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the New Mexico State Fair and Rodeo, picking up an 83.5-point ride.

Swearingen then saved his best performance of the week for Thursday night when he swung back to Pendleton for the Pendleton Round-Up to win the long round of the prestigious bull riding with an 88-point ride.

Swearingen has a spot at the 2019 PBR World Finals essentially locked up, while he remains in a dog fight to get to the NFR.

The Top 15 money-earners in the PRCA standings qualify for the NFR whereas the Top 35 riders in the PBR world standings qualify for the World Finals via world points earned.

Swearingen could become the first PBR rider to qualify for the PBR World Finals and NFR in the same season since Brennon Eldred (2017).

“It would be special,” Swearingen said. “Then there won’t be such a push to do it next year because I did it this year. Getting to the NFR is where it’s at for rodeo.”

The Panola College student also competed on the collegiate rodeo circuit and won the 2019 national title in June.

Swearingen is also committed to riding for Panola College for the 2019-20 season.

“I want to finish my degree in land and ranch management and win back-to-back national titles,” Swearingen said.

RidePass analyst Colby Yates has been impressed at the growth Swearingen has had going from part-time rider in 2018 to full time this year.

“It has pretty darn impressive what he has done in a short period of time,” Yates said. “If he can go on to make the World Finals, the NFR and the college finals in one year, that is saying something.”

Swearingen is 9-for-23 in eight Unleash The Beast events after making his debut in Columbus, Ohio, on April 27. He tied for his first 15/15 Bucking Battle win by riding Cochise for a career-high 92 points in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

This year has been a whirlwind for Swearingen, seeing as he didn’t expect to push for a World Finals spot this quickly, let alone be ranked in the Top 15.

“I was just trying to get to the Velocity Finals to get in that way, but God had a plan and it is all working out,” Swearingen said.

He has drawn Masimodo (1-0, UTB) for Round 1 on Friday night in Springfield (8:30 p.m. ET on RidePass). Masimodo bucked Swearingen off in 2.41 seconds at the Allen, Texas, Touring Pro Division event last month.

Swearingen then will look for his second 15/15 Bucking Battle victory when he takes on Apper’s Mind Freak (17-2, UTB) on Saturday night.

Fans can watch the 15/15 Bucking Battle exclusively on CBS national television Sunday at 5 p.m. ET.

Swearingen began the year driving his truck with an attached camper all over the rodeo trail. He would also travel alongside fellow bull rider Tristan Mize and his van.

Once Swearingen cracked the Top 30 of the Unleash The Beast in mid-May, though, it became that much harder to drive to events. He had to start racking up frequent flier miles last month as the UTB schedule resumed.

“As soon as the second half started, it was working out where I couldn’t fly on the weekends and then get back to my truck and go to the rodeo,” Swearingen said. “So it worked out that I could go with (Mize) because he hasn’t been going with anyone.”

In fact, Swearingen has not been home to New York in more than three months. He is looking forward to returning to New York next week following another rodeo stop in Maryville, California, after Springfield.

The Piffard, New York, native then will head to Fairfax, Virginia, for the UTB’s Fairfax Invitational on Sept. 21-22.

Swearingen estimates he has been to more than 75 rodeos in 2019. He has competed in 37 PBR events in the United States and Canada.

“Man, I have lost count,” Swearingen said. “I didn’t know you have to be gone all year long to make it. That is the biggest deal – not being home. Just kind of always being gone. It hits you.

“I didn’t know it was going to be that many rodeos, but I think I will be that much of a better bull rider from it.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko