LAS VEGAS – As the climatic 2021 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour season wound to a close Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas, Adriano Salgado (Batatais, Brazil) reached a critical career milestone.

Going a near-flawless 2-for-3 at the PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals, capping his performance inside SouthPoint Arena & Equestrian Center with the high-marked ride of his tenure on American soil, Salgado was crowned the 2021 PBR Velocity Tour Champion, punching his ticket to the first PBR World Finals of his career.

“It’s been a really tough battle to be here today,” an emotional Salgado said from the dirt. “I owe it to my brother and my mom and dad. This doesn’t mean anything without all the fans and the PBR behind us.”

Salgado, who began the Velocity Tour Finals ranked No. 5 in the series standings, 33.5 points behind an injured No. 1 Michael Lane (Tazewell, Virginia), was quick to strike in Round 1, going the distance atop The Bandit (Cord McCoy/Larry & Kathy Miller) for a third-best 88.5 points.

While Salgado was unseated short of the 8 in Round 2, bucked off by Blow Torch (Cooper/Scruggs Bucking Bulls) in 3.25 seconds, the charismatic Brazilian returned poised for the championship round.

Drawing Grey Smoke (Hart Cattle Co.), Salgado confidently nodded, matching the bovine athlete jump-for-jump en route to a personal event-best 90-point score.

The monstrous ride propelled Salgado to a second-place finish at the Velocity Tour Finals, garnering him a crucial 60 world points, elevating him to the 2021 PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Championship. Salgado also earned a career-best payday of $67,946.67.

In addition to Salgado, five other contenders also earned a berth to the PBR World Finals courtesy of their year-end rank in the Velocity Tour standings.

Readying to make their career-first appearances at the sport’s most prestigious event, Lane Nobles (West, Texas), Grayson Cole (New Ringgold, Pennsylvania), Leonardo Lima (Vale do Paraiso, Brazil), Dalton Rudman (Wellington, Utah) and Alvaro Aguilar Alvarez (La Punta Lagos, Mexico) will all ride Nov. 3-7 inside T-Mobile Arena.

Reigning PBR World Finals event winner Boudreaux Campbell (Crockett, Texas) added another prestigious title to his resume, capturing the 2021 PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals event win Sunday afternoon.

“At the end of the week, I want to be the second rider to win the World Finals back-to-back,” said Campbell. “Just stay on your bulls, and the rest of it takes care of itself.”   

Campbell was sensational in Round 1, surging to the lead in the tour stop when he covered Chief (Blake Sharp/Michael Floyd) for an impressive 90 points.

In uncharacteristic form, Campbell was bucked off in quick order in Round 2, sent to the ground in 2.56 seconds by Karate All Night (Platinum Bull Co.).

The Texan, however, clinched the event win when he rode King Brute (Henry Wilson/Blake Sharp/T&M Services) for 89 points in the final round.

Attempting to become just the second rider to win the PBR World Finals in back-to-back seasons, Campbell will begin his quest with momentum at his back, having earned $24,346.67 and 83 world points for his Velocity Tour Finals victory.

Campbell remained No. 5 in the world and now trails No. 1 Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) by 1,143.5 points.

The 2021 PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals also featured a last-minute push by 2018 PBR World Champion and current world No. 2 Kaique Pacheco (Itatiba, Brazil) to gain ground on the No. 1 rank ahead of Round 1 of the 2021 PBR World Finals.

Eager to become just the seventh multi-time PBR World Champion in league history, Pacheco continued to capitalize on Leme’s sidelining injury. Finishing fifth at the Velocity Tour Finals, the “Ice Man” earned 17 world points, closing within 590 points of the top spot.

Pacheco went 2-for-3, covering Blue Duck (Davis Rodeo Ranch) for 85 points in Round 1 and Rubber-Band Man (Rockin R Bucking Bulls) for 82 points in Round 2 before being bucked off by Apper’s Mind Freak (J-Z Bucking Bulls/K-C Bucking Bulls/Spark-lin Acres) in 2.95 seconds in the final round.

Round 2 of the PBR Velocity Tour Finals also concluded the American Bucking Bull Inc. (ABBI) Derby and Wild Card Classic competitions. Over the past two days, 90 3-year-old Derby and 3- and 4-year-old Wild Card Classic bulls went head-to-head in hopes of securing their spot at the top of the standings.

R83 War Department (Rockin T Ranch) maintained his lead in the Derby with a 91.6-point performance for a payout of more than $26,000. 205Z Nighttime Crime (BJ Cattle/Risen Cattle Co.) and F20 Alakazam (Julian/Buck Cattle/D&H Cattle) tied for second after recording matching 90-point scores, each earning a check for more than $14,000.

Compliments of their efforts at the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals, Wild Card Classic bulls Karate All Night, Casper (Halpain Bucking Bulls), Liston (D&H Cattle Co.), Diablo (Broken Arrow S Ranch/Dallas Schott) and Blow Torch all qualified for the ABBI Classic Finals and will appear in Round 1 of the PBR World Finals on Wednesday, November 3 at T-Mobile Arena.

734 Karate All Night won the Wild Card Classic title with 91.8 points to earn $13,400. 50F Casper picked up 90.4 points for a second-place finish and $8,040, while 6E Liston, who was leading the event following the opening night of action, concluded the event third after posting 90.2 points to collect more than $6,000. 706 Diablo and 839C Blow Torch tied for fourth place with 90 points apiece to earn approximately $5,000 each.

The 2021 PBR World Finals will get underway Wednesday, November 3, with Round 1 starting at 6:40 p.m. PT at T-Mobile Arena. Tickets are still available, and they can be purchased at the T-Mobile Arena Box Office, PBR.com or AXS.com, or by phone at (800) 732-1727. Five-day packages are also available for fans wanting to attend the entire week of high-adrenaline action.

PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour – PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals
SouthPoint Arena & Equestrian Center – Las Vegas, Nevada
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Boudreaux Campbell, 90-0-89-179.00-83 Points.
2. Adriano Salgado, 88.5-0-90-178.50-60 Points.
3. Daylon Swearingen, 89.5-86.5-0-176.00-42 Points.
4. Ezekiel Mitchell, 86-0-88-174.00-30 Points.
5. Kaique Pacheco, 85-82-0-167.00-17 Points.
6. Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 84-81-0-165.00-11 Points.
7. Eduardo Aparecido, 0-89.5-0-89.50-20 Points.
8. Andrew Alvidrez, 0-87.5-0-87.50-8 Points.
9. Lane Nobles, 86-0-0-86.00-3 Points.
(tie). Ednei Caminhas, 86-0-0-86.00-3 Points.
11. Fernando Henrique Novais, 85.5-0-0-85.50-1 Points.
(tie). Carlos Garcia, 0-85.5-0-85.50-3.5 Points.
(tie). Thor Hoefer II, 0-85.5-0-85.50-3.5 Points.
14. Austin Richardson, 85-0-0-85.00
15. Junior Patrik Souza, 0-84.5-0-84.50-2 Points.
16. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 83-0-0-83.00
(tie). Eli Vastbinder, 83-0-0-83.00
18. Cody Jesus, 82.5-0-0-82.50
(tie). Hunter Ball, 82.5-0-0-82.50
20. Marcelo Procopio Pereira, 82-0-0-82.00
21. Dalton Rudman, 81-0-0-81.00
22. Manoelito de Souza Junior, 0-80-0-80.00
23. Ramon de Lima, 51-0-0-51.00
João Ricardo Vieira, 0-0-0-0.00
Silvano Alves, 0-0-0-0.00
Conner Halverson, 0-0-0-0.00
Cody Nance, 0-0-0-0.00
Thiago Salgado, 0-0-0-0.00
Lucas Divino, 0-0-0-0.00
J.T. Moore, 0-0-0-0.00
Cody Casper, 0-0-0-0.00
Grayson Cole, 0-0-0-0.00
Marcos Gloria, 0-0-0-0.00
Alvaro Aguilar Alvarez, 0-0-0-0.00
Leonardo Lima, 0-0-0-0.00
Cole Skender, 0-0-0-0.00
Kyle Jones, 0-0-0-0.00
Davi Henrique de Lima, 0-0-0-0.00
Lucas Fideles Souza, 0-0-0-0.00
Alex Cardozo, 0-0-0-0.00
Bob Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00
Quentin Vaught, 0-0-0-0.00
Venn Johns, 0-0-0-0.00
Gage Gay, 0-0-0-0.00
Jory Markiss, 0-0-0-0.00
Austin Beaty, 0-0-0-0.00
Josh Frost, 0-0-0-0.00

2021 PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5's, Points, Total Winnings)
1. Adriano Salgado, 6, 1, 4, 146.50, $83,546.82
2. Michael Lane, 16, 2, 3, 120.00, $18,683.93
3. Manoelito de Souza Junior, 11, 1, 4, 108.00, $20,229.15
4. Conner Halverson, 14, 2, 3, 98.00, $13,516.60
5. Daylon Swearingen, 1, 0, 1, 97.50, $11,280.00
6. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 2, 1, 1, 93.00, $6,528.00
7. Austin Richardson, 5, 1, 2, 85.50, $10,237.28
8. Boudreaux Campbell, 1, 1, 1, 83.00, $24,346.67
9. Lane Nobles, 9, 0, 4, 79.50, $13,777.77
10. Grayson Cole, 20, 0, 4, 78.33, $8,223.78
11. Paulo Ferreira Lima, 8, 1, 3, 76.83, $11,903.65
12. Eli Vastbinder, 8, 1, 2, 72.50, $9,166.33
13. Ezekiel Mitchell, 2, 1, 2, 70.00, $12,741.33
14. Leonardo Lima, 13, 1, 1, 65.83, $9,955.51
15. Dalton Rudman, 7, 1, 1, 63.50, $6,000.00
16. Dalton Kasel, 1, 0, 1, 62.25, $1,555.20
17. Cody Casper, 12, 1, 2, 62.00, $9,858.13
18. Carlos Garcia, 10, 1, 2, 60.50, $10,182.40
19. Alvaro Aguilar Alvarez, 11, 0, 3, 60.33, $9,612.83
20. Hunter Ball, 11, 0, 2, 59.00, $8,478.68
21. Lucas Fideles Souza, 16, 0, 2, 58.00, $9,910.66
22. Marcos Gloria, 8, 1, 2, 56.00, $11,635.20
23. Andrew Alvidrez, 3, 1, 1, 55.75, $10,608.00
24. Junior Patrik Souza, 2, 0, 1, 54.00, $2,531.38
25. Alex Cardozo, 11, 1, 2, 52.66, $11,437.95
26. Jesse Petri, 5, 1, 1, 52.08, $7,216.06
27. Thor Hoefer II, 14, 0, 3, 51.00, $8,693.05
28. Cody Nance, 4, 0, 2, 50.66, $8,646.13
29. Jose Vitor Leme, 0, 0, 0, 48.00, $0.00
29. Derek Kolbaba, 0, 0, 0, 48.00, $0.00
31. Davi Henrique de Lima, 3, 1, 1, 47.00, $8,265.60
32. Cole Skender, 20, 0, 3, 46.00, $7,447.35
33. Dalton Krantz, 4, 0, 2, 45.50, $8,553.90
34. Kyle Jones, 9, 0, 1, 44.50, $7,278.63
34. Thiago Salgado, 6, 0, 2, 44.50, $7,258.80
36. Claudio Montanha Jr., 0, 0, 0, 44.00, $0.00
37. Quentin Vaught, 6, 0, 2, 43.00, $6,547.20
38. J.T. Moore, 3, 1, 1, 40.50, $6,180.50
39. Marcelo Procopio Pereira, 4, 1, 1, 40.00, $6,016.13
39. Caic Cassio Carvalho, 3, 1, 1, 40.00, $6,279.13
41. Venn Johns, 11, 0, 1, 39.00, $4,944.00
42. Logan Biever, 10, 0, 1, 38.83, $6,029.28
43. Joe Hostetler, 5, 0, 2, 38.50, $6,183.60
43. Bob Mitchell, 20, 0, 3, 38.50, $7,351.48
43. Jory Markiss, 4, 0, 1, 38.50, $3,744.00