PUEBLO, Colo. – Last week in Deadwood, South Dakota, it was 2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco rallying on Championship Sunday for a crucial event win.
Can 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis, the No. 3-ranked bull rider in the world, now do it this weekend in San Antonio at the PBR U.S. Border Patrol Invitational, presented by Ariat?
Davis will head into Round 2 and his matchup against Midnight Rider (8-1, all levels) fifth in the event average following his 87.75-point ride on Facetious to conclude Round 1 on Saturday night at the AT&T Center.
The Texas native took a sliver out of world No. 1 Jose Vitor Leme’s lead in the title race – 15 points – and now sits 844 points behind Leme, who is out of competition with a partially torn right groin.
Following San Antonio, there are three Unleash The Beast regular-season events remaining, as well as a 15/15 Bucking Battle next week in Greensboro, North Carolina, before the top bull riders in the world head to Las Vegas for the 2021 PBR World Finals (Nov. 3-7).
The maximum amount of world points a rider could earn at the World Finals is 1,094. That would come with a rider winning every round (80 points per round win) and the event average (560 points), and being 90 or more points with all six rides, which of course is no easy task.
Therefore, the margin of error for the title contenders is razor thin with so little time left before the World Finals and Leme taking his recovery week to week. It is crucial for Davis, as well as Pacheco, to gain as much ground as possible in the title race while Leme is stuck on the sidelines and chomping at the bit to return to action.
Pacheco could not capitalize this week in Round 1 as Guess Eyes Right bucked him off in 2.53 seconds.
The 27-year-old is slated to face Big Red (22-3, all levels) in Round 2 as he attempts to chip away at the 726.5-point deficit between himself and Leme.
PBR U.S. BORDER PATROL INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY ARIAT
San Antonio, TX, 2021 - Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Dalton Kasel, 89-0-0-89.00-28 Points.
2. Junior Patrik Souza, 88.5-0-0-88.50-17 Points.
(tie). João Henrique Lucas, 88.5-0-0-88.50-17 Points.
(tie). Manoelito de Souza Junior, 88.5-0-0-88.50-17 Points.
5. Cooper Davis, 87.75-0-0-87.75-15 Points.
6. Mason Taylor, 87-0-0-87.00-13.5 Points.
(tie). Ramon de Lima, 87-0-0-87.00-13.5 Points.
8. Daylon Swearingen, 86.25-0-0-86.25-12 Points.
9. Silvano Alves, 83.25-0-0-83.25-11 Points.
10. Marco Eguchi, 80.25-0-0-80.25-2 Points.
Kaique Pacheco, 0-0-0-0.00
João Ricardo Vieira, 0-0-0-0.00
Boudreaux Campbell, 0-0-0-0.00
Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-0-0-0.00
Derek Kolbaba, 0-0-0-0.00
Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-0-0-0.00
Chase Dougherty, 0-0-0-0.00
Rafael Henrique dos Santos, 0-0-0-0.00
Jesse Petri, 0-0-0-0.00
Cody Jesus, 0-0-0-0.00
Marcelo Procopio Pereira, 0-0-0-0.00
Eduardo Aparecido, 0-0-0-0.00
Austin Richardson, 0-0-0-0.00
Cole Melancon, 0-0-0-0.00
Claudio Montanha Jr., 0-0-0-0.00
Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00
Thiago Salgado, 0-0-0-0.00
Conner Halverson, 0-0-0-0.00
Lucas Divino, 0-0-0-0.00
Fernando Henrique Novais, 0-0-0-0.00
Adriano Salgado, 0-0-0-0.00
J.T. Moore, 0-0-0-0.00
Cody Casper, 0-0-0-0.00
Leonardo Lima, 0-0-0-0.00
Kyle Jones, 0-0-0-0.00
Lane Nobles, 0-0-0-0.00
Dalton Krantz, 0-0-0-0.00
Alvaro Aguilar Alvarez, 0-0-0-0.00
Lucas Fideles Souza, 0-0-0-0.00
Wallace Vieira de Oliveira, 0-0-0-0.00