PUEBLO, Colo. – The WCRA Royal City Roundup gets underway Friday night in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and a few of the PBR’s top bull riders will be taking their first shot at beginning the process of winning the WCRA’s $1 million Triple Crown of Rodeo (TCR) bonus.
World leader Jose Vitor Leme, two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood and world. No. 3 Joao Ricardo Vieira highlight the field of nine bull riders competing Friday night at the Sprint Center.
The Top 3 riders from Round 1 advance to the winner-take-all, championship round Friday night. The event winner will take home a minimum of $50,000 and 30 points toward the PBR world standings. Round wins pay out seven PBR world points.
WCRA Bull Riding Matchups for Royal City Roundup
Dakota Louis vs. Canadian Mist (35-4, all levels)
Justin McCall vs. Hostage (21-3, all levels)
Jess Lockwood vs. Crazy Times (16-3, all levels)
Joao Ricardo Vieira vs. Medicine Man (23-12, all levels)
Jose Vitor Leme vs. Outlaw (6-2, all levels)
Colten Fritzlan vs. Pan Am (9-2, all levels)
Ray Mayo vs. Viper (21-2, all levels)
Nic Lica vs. Western Skies (8-1, all levels)
Stetson Lawrence vs. Too Dirty (4-2, all levels)
RELATED: WCRA Daysheet
Fans can watch Round 1 on RidePass beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday, and the conclusion on CBS national television at 12:30 ET on Saturday.
The TCR is an annual bonus that will pay $1 million to any one athlete or collection of athletes who win first place in any three consecutive WCRA $1 Million Major Rodeos.
The Royal City Roundup is the first WCRA major event of 2020. It will be followed by the May 17 Stampede at The E in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and then the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo on July 21-25 in Salt Lake City. The 2020 WCRA schedule wraps up in Tacoma, Washington, on Aug. 28 with the Puget Sound Showdown.
The annual $1 million incentive is not limited to just the WCRA 2020 season; rather, it allows athletes to rack up wins on a rolling calendar basis. This means athletes’ three consecutive wins can cross calendar years.
Nic Lica (Garden City, Michigan) is replacing Cody Teel in the draw after Teel doctored out of the event because of a right knee injury (ACL/MCL) he aggravated last weekend at the PBR’s U.S. Border Patrol Invitational in St. Louis. According to Prorodeo.com, Lica is 5-for-23 in PRCA competition. The 28-year-old is 20-for-104 at all levels of PBR competition.
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND BULLS
The winner-take-all championship round will feature a draft. The three bulls in the draft are Milk Man, Blue Crush and I’m Legit Too.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko