Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is no stranger to witnessing PBR greatness, and that will be the case once again at the 2020 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals on Nov. 6-7.
By Darci Miller
PUEBLO, Colo. – Sioux Falls, South Dakota, first hosted the PBR in 2015. In the years since, it has been no stranger to huge rides.
Sioux Falls has played host to the elite Unleash The Beast five times, was the home of Championship Weekend of the inaugural Monster Energy Team Challenge and, most recently, held its first Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour event with the Sioux Falls Invitational.
PBR CEO Sean Gleason announced last week that the PBR will be returning to Sioux Falls in less than two months with the 2020 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals on Nov. 6-7.
Tickets for the Velocity Tour Finals go on sale Monday, Oct. 5 at 10 a.m. CT for the general public and can be purchased via Ticketmaster.com, KELOLAND box office and PBR.com.
Before the next round of rank rides, read on to relive the Top 10 rides in Sioux Falls history.
1. J.B. Mauney – 94.25 points on Pearl Harbor, 2016
J.B. Mauney is known for his ability to slay dragons, and when he and Pearl Harbor squared off in the 15/15 Bucking Battle in 2016, one more chapter was added to that legacy. Mauney hung on for a monstrous 94.25 points – and Pearl Harbor was scored 46.25 points – taking his third consecutive 15/15 Bucking Battle victory.
2. Mauricio Moreira – 92.25 points on Boogie Bomb, 2020
2020 Rookie of the Year contender Mauricio Moreira won the first PBR event of his career in Sioux Falls, going 2-for-2 to win the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour’s Sioux Falls Invitational. In the first Velocity Tour event since the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic shutdown, Moreira rode Boogie Bomb for 92.25 points, the highest-scoring ride of his career, on July 12.
In 2019, Jose Vitor Leme spent the season locked in a fierce world title battle with Joao Ricardo Vieira, Chase Outlaw and eventual World Champion Jess Lockwood. The four traded blows all season long, but Sioux Falls was Leme’s time to seize the spotlight. He won three consecutive rounds – including the championship round with his 92-point ride on Cochise – to become the first rider since Austin Meier in 2012 to win three rounds at a regular-formatted, premier series event. Despite falling short of the overall event victory, Leme still earned enough points to seize the world No. 1 ranking.
4. Cooper Davis – 91.5 points on Lil 2 Train, 2020
When Cooper Davis headed to Sioux Falls this summer, he was had just newly returned from a broken neck sustained at the season-opening event in New York City. He’d won the Forever West PBR Touring Pro Division event, and gone 7-for-17 at the Monster Energy Team Challenge. At the Sioux Falls Invitational, he rode Lil 2 Train for 91.5 points to finish second overall. The ride thus far is his highest-score of the season at all levels of competition.
T5. Jess Lockwood – 91 points on Big Dutch, 2018
Following his 2017 World Championship win, Jess Lockwood earned his first Unleash The Beast event win of the 2018 season in Sioux Falls. He would go on to struggle with injury for much of the season and ended the year ranked No. 12, but his championship form was on full display in Sioux Falls. Lockwood went 3-for-4, winning the championship round with a 91-point ride aboard Big Dutch to improve to No. 7 in the world standings.
T5. Cooper Davis – 91 points on Cut the Cord, 2017
Then the reigning World Champion, Cooper Davis finished third overall in Sioux Falls in 2017, going 2-for-4. He won the championship round with 91 points on Cut the Cord, ending the bovine’s premier series buckoff streak at 15 to do so.
7. Chase Outlaw – 90.5 points on Cooper Tires Brown Sugar, 2017
Chase Outlaw won the 15/15 Bucking Battle in Sioux Falls in 2017, riding Cooper Tires Brown Sugar for 90.5 points. It was the third 15/15 Bucking Battle win of Outlaw’s career – his first in two years – and helped him finish the season a then-career-best No. 6 in the world.
T8. Jose Vitor Leme – 90.25 points on Medicine Man, 2019
Leme’s other 90-point ride in Sioux Falls came in the same event as the first, when he won three rounds to vault from No. 4 to No. 1 in the world. He rebounded from a Round 1 buckoff to ride Medicine Man for 90.25 points in Round 2, his first round victory of the weekend.
Davis returned to Sioux Falls in 2018 for his second 90-point performance in a row, this time riding Nailed for 90.25 points to win Round 2. He finished third overall for the second year in a row, going 2-for-4.
In 2017, the reigning PBR Rookie of the Year headed to Sioux Falls following the first major injury of his young career, having missed five weeks after tearing his left groin. While he failed to make the 8-second whistle in the event, the 15/15 Bucking Battle was a different story. Lockwood rode BC Circular Insanity for 90.25 points and second place, his best 15/15 Bucking Battle finish in a season that would culminate in his first World Championship.
