LAS VEGAS – Backed by a dominant 5-for-6 showing, including four 90-point rides, 2017 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Champion Jess Lockwood (Volborg, Montana) surged to the top of the leaderboard to win the PBR World Finals event, and became the youngest two-time champion in the sport’s history.

The most ferociously contested World Championship race capped a season-long slug-fest between the world’s Top 3 riders and came down to the final three outs inside T-Mobile Arena.

Lockwood completed his come-from-behind-surge Sunday afternoon to overtake Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) by 852.51 points.

Lockwood is now one of six multi-time PBR World Champions, joining three-time PBR World Champions Adriano Moraes (1994, 2001, 2006) and Silvano Alves (2011, 2012, 2014), and two-time PBR World Champions Chris Shivers (2000, 2003), Justin McBride (2005, 2007) and J.B. Mauney (2013, 2015).

“It will take a while for this one to sink in,” Lockwood said. “You work your whole life to become a world champion. Now I get to have my name next to guys like Justin McBride and Chris Shivers. It’s what you dream about. To have it become a reality is that much sweeter.”

The Montana man is also one of only five athletes to win the prestigious World Finals event title and World Championship in the same season. He joins Mike Lee (2004), Renato Nunes (2010), Mauney (2013) and Alves (2014).

Throughout the five-day event, Lockwood, Leme and Chase Outlaw (Hamburg, Arkansas) went toe-to-toe, ride-for-ride before Lockwood hoisted the coveted PBR World Championship trophy amid a blizzard of confetti in the iconic Sin City venue.

Lockwood’s march to his history-making second World Championship title began Wednesday afternoon in Round 1, then 749.16 points behind No. 1 Leme. He slipped to 789.16 points, despite delivering an 86.5-point ride aboard Silver Back (Mason/Smith Bucking Bulls), when fellow title contenders Leme and Outlaw both scored higher rides. Leme rode Skyfall (Silver Creek/Winston/Melton Bull Co.) for 88 points and Outlaw made the 8 on Foghorn Leghorn (Dennis & Jan Owens) for 88.5 points.

In Round 2, Lockwood began to claw his way back to the No. 1 ranking he had held for 12 weeks during the regular season with a flashy 8-second effort aboard Spotted Demon (Julio Moreno/Dallas Schott) for 91.5 points. Capitalizing on both a Leme and Outlaw buckoff, Lockwood entered Round 3 within 609.16 points of the No. 1 ranking.

In Round 3, the world’s top cowboys again swept their bulls. Lockwood’s Round 3 best, 92-point trip on Biker Bob (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/H&C Bucking Bulls) allowed him to slash Leme’s lead to 407.49 points. Leme’s third round ride came aboard Birthday Cake (M Rafter E Bucking Bulls/Goods Bucking Bulls) for 89.5 points, while Outlaw covered Mason’s Missouri Golden (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/Heald Pro Bulls) for 87 points.

A similar story then unfolded in both Round 4 and Round 5 with Lockwood, Leme and Outlaw capping the evenings’ rounds with pressure-packed 8-second efforts.

During Saturday’s Round 4, Lockwood turned in the third-best score of the round, covering The Right Stuff (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/Diamond Willow/Smith/Nix/Owens) for 91.75 points to close within 377.29 points of Leme who had ridden BootDaddy.com (Crescent City Bucking Bulls/Gene Owen) for a fourth-best 89.75 points. Outlaw remained a contender with a successful trip aboard Catch My Drift (Two Bit Bucking Bulls/K Rose Ranch) for 88 points.

The epic showdown on Championship Sunday was then architected when the trio all finished within the Top 4 of Round 5. Outlaw tied for the round win with 91.5 points on Big Black (K-C Bucking Bulls/Joe & Nina Webb). Lockwood’s 91.25-point ride on Rising Sun (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/Heald Pro Bulls) was the third best score of the round. Leme’s 91-point ride aboard Cochise (Jane Clark/Gene Owen) was the fourth best.

In a story worthy of a Hollywood sports drama, Outlaw, Leme and Lockwood entered the championship round third, second and first in the aggregate.

Following a valiant 4.11-second effort by Outlaw aboard Smooth Operator (Dakota Rodeo/Julie Rosen/Clay Struve/Chad Berger) the race was narrowed to a two-man shoot-out between Leme and Lockwood.

Leme then climbed aboard Lil 2 Train (Jane Clark/Gene Owen). He was jerked off in a heartbreaking 4.59 seconds, sealing the World Championship title for Lockwood, who also came down early, bested by Canadian Mist (TNT Bucking Bulls/Hart Cattel Co.) in 4.95 seconds.

Capturing the coveted gold buckle and $1 million bonus for the second time in his career, Lockwood left T-Mobile Arena with $1,391.500. He is now sixth in all-time money earners in the PBR, a mere four years into his career.

In an equally thrilling race, Dalton Kasel (Muleshoe, Texas) was crowned the 2019 PBR Rookie of the Year. After making his Unleash The Beast debut on Aug. 10 in Tulsa, Oklahoma as the No. 43-ranked bull rider in the world, his awe-inspiring 14-for-35 (40%) push through the final 10 events of the elite tour season, including his career-first PBR World Finals, led him to finish the season No. 8 in the world.

Going 1-for-6 at the PBR World Finals, Kasel netted $26,000 and 152.5 world points to finish the season 462.91 points in front of No. 2 contender Alan de Souza (Taubate, Brazil) who persevered through strained groin muscles to finish third at his career-first PBR World Finals. Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York), Mason Taylor (Maypearl, Texas) and Ezekiel Mitchell (Rockdale, Texas) rounded out the Top 5 of the dominant class of first-year pros.

In the bull pen, after delivering an unquestionably supreme regular-season campaign, Smooth Operator was unstoppable inside T Mobile Arena and was crowned the 2019 YETI PBR World Champion Bucking Bull. At the conclusion of the regular-season, the top bovine athlete had amassed an impressive 45.84-point world average and earned a league-leading six YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the event honors.

In Round 2, Smooth Operator delivered a 46.25-point score in his first trip of the 2019 PBR World Finals courtesy of his 6.99-second buckoff of Dylan Smith (Ararat, Virginia). On Championship Sunday, the Chad Berger bovine athlete lit-up the scoreboard with a 47-point bull score when he bested Outlaw in a swift 4.11 seconds, concluding the year with a 46-point world average.

Smooth Operator’s performance at the sixth PBR World Finals of his career also earned him the PBR World Finals Bull of the Event honor.

Rounding out the trio of honors awarded compliments of the performances of the sport’s four-legged athletes, Chad Berger earned his historic ninth Stock Contractor of the Year award. It is the sixth consecutive year Berger’s deep bull pen has brought him the prestigious year-end honor.

Rubens Barbosa (Iaciara, Brazil) earned this season’s Lane Frost/Brent Thurman Award, which is presented annually to the rider who records the high-marked ride at the PBR World Finals, for his monstrous 95.75-point ride atop ABBI (American Bucking Bull Inc.) Classic Champion Chiseled (Flinn/D&H Cattle Co.) in Round 4. The head-turning ride made history as the fourth-highest score ever recorded at a PBR World Finals.

Going 4-for-6 throughout the weekend, Barbosa finished fourth overall to earn $132,333.33, rising from No. 32 to No. 18 in the world.

Dakota Buttar (Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Canada) was awarded the Glen Keeley Award for the third consecutive year. This award goes to the Canadian bull rider earning the most points during the season.

Fans can relive all the action from the 2019 PBR World Finals starting at 8:00 a.m. ET on Monday, November 11 on RidePass.com or via the mobile app.

The 2020 PBR Unleash The Beast season will begin on January 3-5 in New York City with the Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden inside Madison Square Garden.

2019 PBR World Finals Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5's, Points, Total Winnings)

1. Jess Lockwood, 45, 15, 29, 8,495.00, $1,873,731.80
2. Jose Vitor Leme, 56, 11, 32, 7,642.49, $642,516.12
3. Chase Outlaw, 66, 10, 19, 5,788.33, $559,545.68
4. João Ricardo Vieira, 51, 5, 18, 4,532.50, $491,229.28
5. Cooper Davis, 32, 3, 15, 3,865.83, $289,938.78
6. Cody Teel, 49, 4, 12, 2,956.66, $273,141.63
7. Matt Triplett, 42, 1, 9, 2,532.50, $263,457.25
8. Dalton Kasel, 32, 3, 11, 2,370.41, $204,887.75
9. Luciano De Castro, 39, 0, 8, 2,115.00, $121,813.01
10. Marco Eguchi, 38, 2, 6, 1,985.00, $236,365.46
11. Derek Kolbaba, 51, 3, 11, 1,936.66, $206,735.05
12. Alan de Souza, 29, 4, 7, 1,907.50, $188,129.73
13. Daylon Swearingen, 47, 7, 19, 1,807.50, $116,041.48
14. Mason Taylor, 39, 1, 10, 1,729.16, $105,802.06
15. Ezekiel Mitchell, 56, 4, 9, 1,709.99, $99,384.97
16. Ryan Dirteater, 28, 1, 10, 1,643.33, $120,246.18
17. Alisson De Souza, 48, 3, 10, 1,626.66, $92,734.33
18. Rubens Barbosa, 46, 0, 10, 1,623.33, $200,798.82
19. Lucas Divino, 46, 1, 7, 1,614.16, $96,243.97
20. Cody Jesus, 28, 1, 6, 1,555.83, $148,410.24
21. Claudio Montanha Jr., 45, 1, 4, 1,468.33, $142,845.48
22. Aaron Kleier, 39, 5, 23, 1,456.66, $63,401.57
23. Eduardo Aparecido, 33, 0, 6, 1,395.00, $191,583.50
24. Stetson Lawrence, 46, 0, 9, 1,233.33, $91,131.70
25. Cody Nance, 47, 2, 8, 1,142.50, $98,003.85
26. Brennon Eldred, 43, 0, 7, 1,095.83, $93,899.07
27. Silvano Alves, 38, 2, 8, 1,041.66, $76,659.83
28. Taylor Toves, 48, 3, 7, 1,021.66, $63,924.58
29. Dakota Buttar, 46, 5, 15, 937.50, $68,575.21
30. J.B. Mauney, 24, 1, 2, 924.16, $75,476.53
31. Ramon de Lima, 29, 1, 3, 911.66, $63,311.61
32. Joe Frost, 27, 1, 3, 904.16, $49,230.57
33. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 39, 1, 7, 895.00, $71,998.27
34. Cliff Richardson, 26, 2, 10, 885.00, $44,025.77
35. Michael Lane, 37, 2, 7, 865.00, $39,875.33
35. Brady Fielder, 34, 7, 16, 865.00, $46,904.16
37. Cannon Cravens, 27, 0, 4, 850.00, $79,229.99
38. Dylan Smith, 51, 3, 7, 809.99, $48,658.84
39. Jared Parsonage, 43, 2, 17, 758.33, $61,298.40
40. Scottie Knapp, 44, 2, 8, 700.00, $52,487.37
41. Colten Jesse, 19, 0, 1, 686.66, $54,716.65
42. Junio Quaresima, 40, 1, 4, 635.00, $43,729.11
43. Danilo Carlos Sobrinho, 27, 1, 3, 585.00, $38,528.35
43. Kurt Shephard, 30, 1, 8, 585.00, $44,012.80
45. Leandro Machado, 9, 1, 4, 577.50, $29,994.37

PBR Unleash The Beast
2019 PBR Unleash The Beast World Finals
T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, Nevada
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Round 5-Round 6-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

1. Jess Lockwood, 86.5-91.5-92-91.75-91.25-0-453.00-2265 Points.
2. Matt Triplett, 0-89.25-86.75-89.25-86.5-89.25-441.00-1000 Points.
3. Alan de Souza, 79.25-86.5-87.75-0-39.5-90.25-383.25-875 Points.
4. Rubens Barbosa, 0-71.25-89.5-95.75-91.5-0-348.00-738.33 Points.
5. Jose Vitor Leme, 88-0-89.5-89.75-91-0-358.25-663.33 Points.
6. Chase Outlaw, 88.5-0-87-88-91.5-0-355.00-602.5 Points.
7. Eduardo Aparecido, 91.25-0-90.5-0-0-0-181.75-480 Points.
8. Cody Teel, 88.25-91-89.5-0-0-0-268.75-343.33 Points.
9. Cody Jesus, 0-92-0-0-0-0-92.00-300 Points.
10. Ramon de Lima, 0-0-85.5-87.75-86.75-88.5-348.50-268.33 Points.
11. Leandro Machado, 87.25-0-0-92.75-0-0-180.00-230 Points.
12. Dalton Kasel, 88.5-0-0-0-0-0-88.50-152.5 Points.
13. Cooper Davis, 0-0-0-89.5-90.75-0-180.25-128.33 Points.
14. Cliff Richardson, 85.75-89.5-0-0-0-0-175.25-105 Points.
15. Luciano De Castro, 0-86.75-88-68-86-0-328.75-100 Points.
16. Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-0-88.25-89.5-0-0-177.75-88.33 Points.
17. Jared Parsonage, 0-81.5-85-85.5-86.75-0-338.75-68.33 Points.
18. Dylan Smith, 0-0-0-89.5-0-0-89.50-53.33 Points.
19. João Ricardo Vieira, 0-0-0-0-89.5-0-89.50-50 Points.
(tie). Lucas Divino, 0-0-88.75-0-0-0-88.75-50 Points.
(tie). Junio Quaresima, 0-87-0-0-0-0-87.00-50 Points.
22. Lawson Nobbs, 0-0-0-0-87.25-0-87.25-35 Points.
23. Ryan Dirteater, 86-0-0-0-0-0-86.00-25 Points.
24. Claudio Montanha Jr., 0-0-0-0-86.75-0-86.75-13.33 Points.
25. Mason Taylor, 0-85.75-0-0-0-0-85.75-10 Points.
26. Marco Eguchi, 0-0-87.5-0-0-0-87.50-5 Points.
(tie). Alisson De Souza, 79.75-0-0-0-0-0-79.75-5 Points.
28. Daylon Swearingen, 0-0-85.25-86.5-0-0-171.75
29. Stetson Lawrence, 0-0-0-86.75-0-0-86.75
30. Dakota Buttar, 0-0-85-0-0-0-85.00
31. Colten Jesse, 0-0-0-0-83.75-0-83.75
Derek Kolbaba, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Cody Nance, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Brennon Eldred, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Silvano Alves, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Taylor Toves, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
J.B. Mauney, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Joe Frost, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Michael Lane, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Brady Fielder, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Cannon Cravens, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Scottie Knapp, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Shay Marks, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Brady Sims, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Ouncie Mitchell, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Austin Richardson, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Daniel Tinsman, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00