PUEBLO, Colo. – Some of the PBR’s heaviest hitters will be heading to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, this weekend with their eyes on improving their world title aspirations and taking home the $35,000 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Championship.
There is no greater superstar than Jose Vitor Leme in the 45-rider field that is set to hit the dirt inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center on Friday and Saturday night.
Leme is the No. 1 rider in the world, and he is laser-focused on winning his first World Championship come Nov. 15 at the 2020 PBR World Finals in Arlington, Texas. The 24-year-old has continuously been getting on practice bulls during the PBR’s two-week break since its Unleash The Beast regular season concluded on Oct. 17, and he has shown no signs of slowing down.
The 2017 PBR World Finals event winner is no stranger to success at the Velocity Tour Finals. Leme is the defending Velocity Tour Champion, and his victory at the 2019 Velocity Tour Finals nearly propelled him to the 2019 gold buckle.
In fact, it has become customary for the Velocity Tour Finals to affect the World Championship race in some fashion for the past three seasons.
Here is a look back at the last three Velocity Tour Finals affected that year’s World Champion.
2019 – Jose Vitor Leme dominates Velocity Tour Finals
Two years after Jose Vitor Leme used the 2017 Velocity Tour Finals to earn a wild card berth for the 2017 World Finals, which he then won with a sensational 6-for-6 performance, Leme went 2-for-3 to win the 2019 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals and the $50,000 Velocity Tour championship.
Most important of all, Leme extended his lead to 749.66 points in the old points system last year, which is the equivalent to roughly 188 points this season. Leme appeared poised to win the 2019 World Championship.
Jess Lockwood had other plans, though. The superstar went 5-for-6 to win the 2019 PBR World Finals and snatch the world title away from Leme in Las Vegas. It was an example of just how close a world title race can be with the amount of points available at the World Finals. Leme rode one less bull at the 2019 World Finals, and a Finals event victory and one extra ride was enough to push Lockwood to victory.
2019 was a reminder that even with a victory at the Velocity Tour Finals, the World Championship race is far from over.
This year, the stakes are different. Leme has a much larger lead in the world title race, and he would be that much closer to pushing Vieira and his other challengers closer to the brink of elimination if he can pick up the 105 world points in Sioux Falls.
2018 – Kaique Pacheco tears ligaments; nearly loses World Championship
Kaique Pacheco was in the driver’s seat for the 2018 World Championship with a 1,590-point lead in the 2018 points system when he and Leme stepped foot inside the South Point Arena in Las Vegas for the 2018 Velocity Tour Finals.
Pacheco had a strong enough lead in the world standings that he could afford to stay the course and churn out qualified rides on his way to a world title race.
However, his lead was quickly in jeopardy when Fly Over bucked him off and tore his left PCL/MCL in the process.
Pacheco, though, put forth the gutsiest effort of his career four days later, and rode his first two bulls at the 2018 PBR World Finals to hold off Leme and win the World Championship.
The injury not only affected the 2018 World Championship, but it ultimately played a factor in the 2019 world title race as Pacheco struggled in his return from offseason surgery before sustaining a season-ending elbow injury in Brazil during the 2019 summer break.
Pacheco has bounced back in 2020, and he is currently the No. 3-ranked rider in the world. Pacheco elected to not compete in Sioux Falls. He is 688 points behind Leme in the world title race, and he will focus on making up the deficit during the World Finals instead.
2017 – Jess Lockwood uses Velocity Tour Finals to spark comeback and become youngest PBR World Champion
Jess Lockwood ended the 2017 regular season in an 0-for-4 funk, and he was mulling over not even competing at the Velocity Tour Finals that year. Lockwood decided to ride his way out of his slump inside the South Point Arena, and it would prove tremendously beneficial to him becoming the youngest World Champion in PBR history (19).
RELATED: Lockwood overcame injuries and never lost faith in himself
Lockwood would go a perfect 3-for-3 at the Velocity Tour Finals, earning 227.5 world points, and that would spur him to winning the first three rounds at the 2017 World Finals. Lockwood took over the world No. 1 ranking with his Round 2 victory (89.75 points on Breaking Bad) and he would hold off Derek Kolbaba by a mere 447.5 world points for the world title.
The now-two-time World Champion is currently fifth in the world standings and is 745.5 points behind Leme. Similar to Pacheco, Lockwood is not competing in Sioux Falls. Lockwood has been rehabbing his partially dislocated right shoulder, and he will be ready to attempt to pull off a herculean comeback at the World Finals for the second time in a row.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andre Silva/Bull Stock Media