PUEBLO, Colo. – The PBR World Championship race nearly always comes down to the PBR World Finals, and that will once again be the case at the 2022 PBR World Finals on May 13-22 in Fort Worth, Texas.

While the points scale at the Finals will remain the same as in 2021, the additional two rounds of competition this year and little separation currently in the world standings could lead to a frantic finish inside Dickies Arena.

At the 2022 PBR World Finals, one rider can earn a maximum of 1,272 world points by winning every round (80 world points per round win), the event average (560 world points), and 90 or more points in an 8-for-8 performance. Of course, that exact scenario is highly unlikely.

Still, the Top 17 riders in the world standings are within an event average victory of catching world No. 1 Joao Ricardo Vieira. The 37-year-old world title frontrunner has earned 803 world points in 16 regular-season events this season. No. 17 Manoelito de Souza Jr. is 525.50 points behind.

World Points for Event Average Placement at the 2022 World Finals
1. 560
2. 350
3. 250
4. 150
5. 134
6. 114
7. 90
8. 62
9. 30
10. 15
11. 5
12. 4
13. 3
14. 2
15. 1

A round win at the World Finals is the equivalent of winning the event average at a two-day regular-season event (not including round wins and ride score bonuses). Therefore, you could look at the World Finals containing the same world points value as nearly eight regular-season events combined.

It may be unrealistic for a rider to earn the full 1,272 world points at the World Finals, but the World Finals event winner inside Dickies Arena could very well take home 850-900 world points, which is more than Vieira’s current world point total (803).

The last eight World Finals event winners in six rounds of competition, excluding 2020 World Finals event winner Boudreaux Campbell (five rounds), would have earned an average of 821.3 points toward the world standings under the PBR’s current points system.

Two-time reigning World Champion Jose Vitor Leme earned 849 world points in this same points system last year with six rounds of competition.

Leme could easily surpass the 1,000-point threshold over eight rounds if he rides up to his usual dominant standards at the World Finals – 23-for-29 and 10 90-point rides.

World Points for Round Placement at the 2022 World Finals
1. 80
2. 40
3. 36
4. 32
5. 28
6. 24
7. 20
8. 16
9. 12
10. 8
11. 5
12. 4
13. 3
14. 2
15. 1

The last time the PBR had an eight-round World Finals was in 2009. There were six Finals from 2004 to 2009 that featured eight rounds of competition. The six World Finals event winners from that period – Mike Lee (7-for-8; 862.5 world points), Guilherme Marchi (6-for-8; 675.5 world points), L.J. Jenkins (5-for-8; 743.5 world points), Wiley Petersen (7-for-8; 758.67 world points), Robson Palermo (7-for-8; 725.25 world points) and J.B. Mauney (8-for-8; 847 world points) earned an average of 768.74 world points.

The 2022 World Championship race first shifts to Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the BOK Center for this weekend’s Express Ranches Classic, presented by Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Vieira leads No. 2 Daylon Swearingen by only 48.34 points, while Leme, the No. 6-ranked bull rider in the world, is returning from a two-event absence (concussion) and is still just 332 points behind.

World Standings Top 6
1. Joao Ricardo Vieira
2. Daylon Swearingen
3. Kaique Pacheco
4. Kyler Oliver*
5. Mauricio Moreira
6. Jose Vitor Leme (-332)
6. Austin Richardson (-332)
*Out for season due to injury

Round 1 from Tulsa airs exclusively on RidePass on Pluto TV beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET.

The final three regular-season Unleash The Beast events remaining before the World Finals may not be dealbreakers for any rider pursuing the 2022 World Championship, but they could prove crucial once the calculators get whipped out on Championship Sunday on May 22.

A few more event wins for Vieira could help him gain some breathing room from his opponents at the Finals.

Leme knows from experience just how important that breathing room can be after Kaique Pacheco fought like hell to give him a run for his money last year at the Finals. Despite Leme putting forth arguably the greatest season in PBR history, he still was unable to clinch his second world title until Round 5.

This year, it may take until Round 8 for all of us to learn who will be the 2022 PBR World Champion.

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media