PUEBLO, Colo. – The final weekend of the regular season has finally arrived with the 2019 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals set to get underway at the South Point Hotel Casino & Spa on Saturday and Sunday.
By the conclusion of the Velocity Finals on Sunday evening, the 40 best bull riders in the world will know that they officially have a spot at the 2019 PBR World Finals on Nov. 6-10 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
However, there is a distinct possibility that at least two of those 40 qualifiers will yet to have arrived in Las Vegas Sunday – let alone the United States – when they find out if they have made the cut or not.
This Saturday’s PBR Australia Monster Energy Cup event in Wodonga is slated for Saturday night in Australia (5 a.m. ET in the United States) and there are two riders – Brady Fielder and Cliff Richardson – who may qualify for the 2019 World Finals as Top 35 riders.
Fans can watch the event live on RidePass.
No. 34 Fielder heads into the event holding a 160-point lead on No. 38 Richardson and Jared Parsonage, who are tied for the final spot for the World Finals.
As of today, the World Finals cutoff is No. 38 as three riders inside the Top 35 will not be competing at the World Finals – No. 19 Aaron Kleier (ineligible due to choice to compete in Australia after being seeded on the Unleash The Beast), No. 24 Silvano Alves (ruptured kidney) and No. 34 Cannon Cravens (broken leg).
The cutoff line will move up No. 37 if Cravens drops out of the Top 35 this weekend.
If Fielder can place in the Top 7 of the Wodonga event, he will earn additional points toward the world standings and most likely be on his way to his first PBR World Finals.
Fielder – the No. 2-ranked bull rider in Australia – explained this week that he thinks he can still make the World Finals through PBR Australia instead of accepting the invitation to ride as the PBR Australia invite at the Velocity Tour Finals.
“Not heading over for the Velocity Finals, but if I make the World Finals I will,” Fielder said. “Hopefully, I do good this weekend.”
Fielder can control his destiny with three qualified rides in Wodonga, and his recent streak during the second half of the season shows he may just punch his ticket to the Finals this weekend in Australia.
Fielder has won three of his past six PBR Australia events after making his North American debut this summer in Canada and at Last Cowboy Standing at Cheyenne Frontier Days. The 19-year-old has earned world points in five of his last six events, except for last weekend in Mildura when he 1-for-2 and placed eighth overall.
The 2019 Team Australia Global Cup rider leads PBR Australia with six event wins this year and is 28-for-42 (66.7%) in 20 events.
Fielder admits he did not expect his success in Australia to potentially push him to his first World Finals appearance.
“Nah, not really,” Fielder said, “but I knew if I did, I would definitely go. I’ll be pretty excited if I do make it.”
Meanwhile, Richardson may climb further into the Top 35 of the world standings with a 3-for-3 showing in Australia.
Richardson, as well as his brother, Lachlan Richardson, turned down the invitation to ride at the Velocity Tour Finals because of the recent passing of their grandmother.
Cliff, though, said he would ride at the World Finals if he does indeed qualify for his first career World Finals.
Last season, Cliff was blanked at the Velocity Tour Finals and failed to win the international wild card spot in Las Vegas.
“If I get in, I will be there,” Cliff said.
Richardson only trails No. 37 Scottie Knapp, who is competing at the Velocity Finals, by 10 points in the world standings. If he were to win Wodonga and pick up 170 world points, Richardson could move up to No. 34 in the world depending on how Fielder does.
The 27-year-old is 20-for-40 with two victories in 20 PBR Australia events. His fourth-place finish last week in Mildura and a second-place finish on Oct. 5 in Queanbeyan made him a late addition to the World Finals race.
Fielder and Richardson are two of 18 riders competing in Australia compared to the 48 set to compete at the Velocity Tour Finals.
They will then have to wait for the conclusion of the Velocity Finals to see if they have qualified for the World Finals.
Fielder and Richardson were never deemed ineligible by the PBR’s competition committee for a Top 35 World Finals qualification because, unlike Kleier, they were never seeded inside the Top 30 of the world standings for an Unleash The Beast event this season.
Lane Mellers knows he can’t physically swim across the Pacific Ocean to get to the 2019 PBR World Finals, but that was the analogy he used to describe his excitement when he found out he had a spot at the Velocity Tour Finals as the PBR Australia invite.
“Honestly, I didn’t even think about making the Finals this year because I’d only been over to the U.S. once, but when I got the invite my reaction was the same as Fairfax, ‘YES,’ immediately, and the planning started to get there at any cost,” Mellers said. “Geez, if I had to, I would swim the big pond to make it, and I’m not much of a swimmer.”
Now the No. 7-ranked rider in PBR Australia is eligible to win the International Wild Card invite for the World Finals if he can finish higher than PBR Brazil’s No. 1 Leandro Machado, PBR Canada’s No. 3 Shay Marks and PBR Mexico’s No. 1 Francisco Garcia Torres.
“It’s massive as chance to win a wild card to the World Finals,” Mellers said. “Well, if that’s not exciting to any bull rider, then why ride bulls if you don’t want to make it to the top level?”
Reigning PBR Australia champion Aaron Kleier told PBR.com he turned down the invite because he did not want to miss this weekend’s PBR Australia event as he looks to become the second rider to win back-to-back PBR Australia championships.
No. 3 Cody Heffernan and No. 6 Kurt Shephard are out because of injuries.
Mellers, the No. 53-ranked rider in the world standings, has competed in a PBR-Australia high 24 events and is 17-for-48 (35.4%).
Mellers will only need three flights this time around.
“It’s the Velocity Final,” Mellers said. “We have our whole lives to ride here (in Australia) each time. The boys that turned it down will have more chances I’m sure, but for me, I’m going to take every chance I am given.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko