LAS VEGAS – Kache Moosman held his 1-and-half-year-old son, Sutton, in his arms while his wife, Jessica, and their 5-year-old daughter, Kache Lynn, proudly stood to his right wearing their white “Kache Money” shirts.
Saturday night at the 2019 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Finals was one of the moments the Moosmans were hoping for a few weeks ago when Jessica convinced her husband to quit his job as a foreman to focus on his career as a professional bull rider.
Kache was struggling mightily and was ranked 62nd in the world standings. He had not earned any points toward the world standings in more than two months and his chances of qualifying for the 2019 PBR World Finals seemed bleak.
Still, Jessica saw potential in her husband’s passion and told him that maybe he should take a break from his job and go all-in at making a run for the World Finals.
“I talked him into quitting his job,” Jessica said on the dirt of the South Point Arena while looking at her husband with pride. “This guy just doesn’t stop. He really doesn’t. He’s working so much now, it’s just at home. He really wants to win for us. He is spending lots of time on his Buckrite.”
Kache could always return to work, but the chance to qualify for the PBR World Finals would not always be there.
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“I’m like, ‘You know what? The whole reason you ride bulls is because you love it,’” Moosman said. “I ended up quitting my job to focus on bull riding, and I just said, ‘You know what? Let’s just go let it all hang out.’”
Now the Moosmans are hoping that decision pays off Sunday evening at the South Point Hotel Casino & Spa.
Moosman won Round 1 of the 2019 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals Saturday night with a career-high 89-point ride on Reckless Tested to put himself in the driver’s seat at winning a Wild Card bid to the World Finals.
The top two finishers at the Velocity Tour Finals earn an automatic bid to the World Finals Nov. 6-10 at T-Mobile Arena. So too will the top two finishers in the Velocity Tour standings and the top international invite.
“Oh yeah, that’s what the goal is,” Moosman said. “I ain’t really thinking about it, but I just want to go lay it all out on the line, and know that I gave it 110% while I was here. So I’m just going to go have fun, finish the weekend strong and can’t wait to see what it has in store.”
There were 19 qualified rides in Round 1.
Rounding out the Top 5 were Luciano de Castro (88.5 points on Invizibull Fire), Jess Lockwood (88 points on Hammered Down), Jose Vitor Leme (87.5 points on Little Joe) and Claudio Montanha Jr. (87.5 points on Ain’t Done Yet).
Moosman has drawn Leave It To Beagle for Round 2 on Sunday. Fans can watch the conclusion of the Velocity Tour Finals live on RidePass beginning at 10 p.m. ET.
The 29-year-old has a ton of support inside the South Point Arena. Around 30 friends and family made the trip to Las Vegas to cheer him on, many of whom are wearing the “Kache Money” shirts.
Moosman said he has that much more confidence knowing so many people are in his corner this weekend.
“I’ve got a bit family come to watch and a lot of people watching back home,” Moosman said.
Moosman has increased his training in recent weeks knowing he would have one last shot at the Velocity Tour Finals to qualify for his first PBR World Finals.
Prior to quitting his job, which involved cutting down trees and branches that were in the way of power lines in Utah, Moosman was struggling to find time to dedicate to the sport.
He would wake around 3 or 4 in the morning to head to work and not get home some evenings until 7. Moosman would then try to hop on a drop barrel before showering, having a late dinner and going to bed. The tedious process would then repeat itself the next day.
“So I was like, you know what? Just quit my job, start working out more and riding the barrel more, and just get to where I’m feeling at my top,” he said. “And I’m feeling healthy right now, so just thank the Lord.”
Moosman admits that it may seem scary to some that he quit his job, but he knows he can always find another job when the time comes.
“I talked to my boss, he said I’m welcome back any time,” Moosman said. “So I was like, ‘Well, that kind of seals the deal.’
“It was a little easier knowing that I had a job to go back to. And then I actually got two other job offers around town about two weeks before I quit. I’ve got a lot of connections at home. I was a welder before. My old boss for welding, he wants me to come back. There’s another guy that I worked with when I was a welder, he’s building shops now. So he said I’m welcome to come there any time, part-time, full-time, whatever. So I’m just really blessed.”
Having that peace of mind means Moosman can focus completely on riding.
Moosman earned 80 points toward the world standings to move up to No. 57 in the world, but he is still only 29th in the Velocity Tour standings.
Therefore, winning the Velocity Tour Finals is going to be his main path to the World Finals. He also needs to finish in the Top 5 of the event average to give himself a shot at winning a wild card bid. If the top two finishers in the event average are already qualified for the World Finals, the PBR will move to the third, fourth and/or fifth-place finisher.
Moosman is the only rider in the Top 5 in Round 1 not qualified for the World Finals.
The only other riders outside the World Finals picture with a qualified ride Saturday night were Leandro Machado (86.5 points on Hot Spots), Bryan Titman (86 points on Hard Juice), Francisco Garcia Torres (85 points on Uno), and Daniel Tinsman (83 points on Grey Eagle).
If Moosman does qualify for the World Finals, expect Jessica to be jumping up and down even more so than she was on Saturday night.
“It would mean everything to us,” she said. “Everything. We’ve put a lot on the line for this.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko