PUEBLO, Colo. – There was no way that when Joao Ricardo Vieira made the hourlong drive home to Decatur, Texas, following a premier series event in Thackerville, Oklahoma, on September 4, 2015, that it would take him more than four years to return to the top of the world standings.

Drenched in sweat from the muggy outdoor bull riding, Vieira still felt prepared to take on the freight train known as J.B. Mauney barreling past him on that hot late summer night.

Vieira’s pursuit of the 2015 world title, though, would come up short as Mauney continued to bulldoze his way toward a second championship while Vieira finished the season with a whimper.

The 2013 Rookie of the Year finished that season a dismal 8-for-26, essentially negating his two first-half PBR Major wins and costing himself an opportunity at a gold buckle.

Vieira would try to contend again the following year, but he could just never keep up against a new wave of young bull riding talent. Cooper Davis, Jess Lockwood and Kaique Pacheco – the last four World Champions – are all 10 or more years younger than the now-grizzled veteran that won this past weekend’s Monster Energy Buck Off at The Garden, presented by Ariat, to take over the world No. 1 ranking for the first time since that humid night in Thackerville.

Father Time had appeared to catch Vieira in 2017 and 2018 as he failed to threaten in the world title race. Even during a renaissance season last year, Vieira could never claim the top spot in the world standings, ultimately finishing 3,962.5 points behind Lockwood at No. 4.

The Joao Ricardo Vieira that showed up for the 2020 season-opener in New York could have felt as if his window for a gold buckle had closed once again.

Only three riders in PBR history have won a world title in their 30s – Tuff Hedeman (1995), Troy Dunn (1998) and Adriano Moraes (2001, 2006).

Moraes won a record-setting third world title at 36 years old, five years after winning his second gold buckle at 31 years old.

RELATED: Moraes says Joao Ricardo Vieira can win a world title at 36 years old

Vieira won $924,562.61 in 2019, and could have decided to walk away from the sport with the kind of winnings that normally only World Champions receive.

Instead, Vieira sat on the bench inside the locker room at Madison Square Garden laughing and joking with his compatriots.

He spoke calmly about the new decade not signaling the end of an era in which he can compete. Vieira, who lost over 12 pounds last year, had shaved off his salt-and-pepper beard from the end of last season, which was the only sign of his age during his surprising resurgence in 2019.

“I am older,” Vieira said, “but I come, and I love to ride bulls. I am here to have fun. I love my job and riding bulls. It don’t matter if I win or buck off. I come here to ride bulls. 8 seconds. Get a score. This makes me better, and makes me happy.”

Vieira first made noise in Round 1 in New York by riding Western Skies for 89.25 points – beating out Lockwood and Jose Vitor Leme during the first look at last year’s world title contenders. He then bounced back from a 4.02-second buckoff against Peep Show in the 15/15 Bucking Battle with 84.75 points on Going Broke in Round 2.

The eight-year pro then rode Birthday Cake for 85.75 points in Round 3 to set himself up with the No. 1 pick in the championship round draft.

Vieira then notched a record-tying fourth PBR Major win by handling Bezerk for 87.25 points. Bezerk at first turned into Vieira’s left hand before bucking four jumps forward. Vieira remained prepared for a possible direction change away from his hand until Bezerk ended the final four seconds going back into Vieira’s strong riding hand.

“Oomph,” Vieira said post-event. “What happened is I think he would go more to the left. He made me work hard. He was fast, and he jumped to the front and then back to the left. I did not like this.”

Nine-time World Champion Ty Murray said on CBS Sports Network that Vieira made things look flawless in New York.

“Look how calm he is when he gets off,” Murray said. “Here he has just come to New York at a three-day event, and been on so many bulls, and he doesn’t even break a sweat. This is a mark of a veteran that you can still say is at the apex of his career, even as old as he is getting. This guy is a force to be reckoned with.”

There is also optimism for Vieira based on how he finished 2019.

Unlike past years in which he would struggle down the stretch, sometimes because of a second-half injury, Vieira went 16-for-33 (48.48%), which was on par with his season average of 48.24%.

The consistency was there, but the firepower was missing as Lockwood, Leme and Chase Outlaw continued to set off their own fireworks.

Vieira remained calm during the weeks leading up to the 2019 World Finals. He believed that if he could just win the World Finals, that could be the difference between him and the three youngsters.

“If I was healthy, I could have done good at the Finals,” Vieira said. “At the Finals, my confidence was no good because my body was so sore. It was hard.”

Vieira went only 1-for-5 at the World Finals after damaging cartilage near two ribs at the regular-season Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour finale in Rapid City, South Dakota.

The Itatinga, Brazil, native returned home to Brazil this offseason to rest and recover. He finished building himself a new house – courtesy of his $3 million in career earnings – and then competed at a few rodeos in Brazil to prepare himself for another PBR season.

“I let my body recover,” Vieira said. “I got hurt before the Finals, and after the Finals I exercise and got no more inflammation. In Brazil, I went to two or three events and started riding good. At my house, I worked at the gym to make my body better.”

Two of Vieira’s four wins in 2019 came in January when he went back-to-back in Oklahoma City and Sacramento, California.

Those two wins set the pace for Vieira before he won the inaugural Iron Cowboy event in Los Angeles to truly cement himself in last year’s world title race.

Vieira now takes a 26.5-point lead on No. 2 Kaique Pacheco into next weekend’s Chicago Invitational. Fans can watch Round 1 Saturday night on CBS Sports Network (10 p.m. ET) and RidePass (7:45 p.m. ET).

He will walk into Allstate Arena as the world No. 1 bull rider once again, but also with a sense of pride that he finally has a career win in New York.

“I had a dream to come here and win in this city,” Vieira said in New York. “It is a special arena, and there are a lot of people here. It is good energy, and to come here and get a win, I am so glad for this.

“I am ready for Chicago.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko