PUEBLO, Colo. – The sun is close to setting for riders looking to qualify for the 2022 PBR World Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 13-22.
The 2022 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals, presented by Coastal Bend Chevy Dealers, begins Friday at American Bank Center Arena in Corpus Christi, Texas. Twenty-seven riders in the 45-rider field are currently outside of the World Finals picture looking to change that story this weekend.
Fans can watch all of the action exclusively on RidePass beginning at 8:15 p.m. ET on Friday and 6:45 p.m. ET on Saturday.
After the Velocity Tour Finals, the Top 35 active/eligible riders in the PBR world standings will qualify for the World Finals. According to the PBR competition department, at least two riders inside the Top 35 (Kyler Oliver and Stetson Lawrence) will not be competing in Fort Worth, which means the current cutoff to get to the World Finals is the No. 37 ranking in the world standings. This cutoff is subject to change depending on any injuries sustained this weekend and how the final world rankings shape up.
Once the PBR competition department finalizes the 35 qualifiers, five additional riders will qualify for the World Finals as wild card invites based on the Velocity Tour standings and the Velocity Tour Finals event standings.
- The top-finishing international invite. The three international invites this year are Alex Cardozo (Brazil), Griffin Smeltzer (Canada) and Francisco Morales (Mexico). These riders were selected via world ranking as of May 1.
- The top two riders in the Velocity Tour standings who are not qualified for the World Finals via the world standings.
- The top two finishers in the Velocity Tour Finals event average. If every rider in the Top 5 has already qualified for the World Finals, the wild card berths will go to the next eligible riders in the Velocity Tour Standings.
These five wild cards make it possible for 27 riders in Corpus Christi who are not inside the Top 37 of the world standings to still have a pathway to the World Finals, including 2002 World Champion Ednei Caminhas, the No. 85-ranked bull rider in the world and the last alternate competing in Corpus Christi.
RELATED: 2022 Velocity Tour Finals Daysheet
Quick look at the bubble standings heading into Round 1:
No. 34 Andrew Alvidrez (142 world points)
No. 35 Silvano Alves (135.16 world points)
No. 36 Alex Marcilio (134 world points)
No. 37 *Ezekiel Mitchell (130.5 world points)*
No. 38 Adriano Salgado (-0.5 points behind Mitchell)
No. 39 Conner Halverson (-2 points behind Mitchell)
No. 40 Brandon Davis (-8.5 points behind Mitchell)
No. 41 *Cole Melancon (-16.34 points behind Mitchell)*
No. 42 Alex Cardozo (-18.5 points behind Mitchell)
No. 42 Casey Coulter (-18.5 points behind Mitchell)
*Not competing in Corpus Christi
How many points are available at the Velocity Tour Finals?
Rounds: 15, 8, 7, 4, 3, 2, 1
Average: 60, 38, 27, 20, 16, 11, 5
Quick look at the 2022 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour title race
No. 1 Griffin Smeltzer (80 points)
No. 2 Brandon Davis (-1.5 points)
No. 3 Elijah Mora (-2.5 points)
No. 4 Casey Coulter (-3.5 points)
No. 5 Michael Lane (-4 points)
No. 6 Matt Triplett (-6.5 points)
No. 7 Taylor Toves (-14 points)
No. 8 Dakota Louis (-15.25 points)
No. 9 Brady Oleson (-16 points)
No. 10 Grayson Cole (-18)
Here are a few notable riders to watch this weekend in Corpus Christi who will be looking to punch their tickets to Fort Worth.
Boudreaux Campbell/Adriano Salgado: 2022 has not been at all what either of the top two riders from last year’s Velocity Tour Finals expected it to be.
Boudreaux Campbell, the 2021 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals event winner, began 2022 with world title aspirations following a sixth-place finish in the 2021 championship race. However, Campbell missed two0 months because of an injury to his riding wrist/hand, which occurred during his winning performance at Bluff City Classic Velocity Tour event in Memphis, Tennessee, on Feb. 12.
The 2020 World Finals event winner heads into Corpus Christi ranked 53rd in the world standings and 22nd in the VT standings. Campbell is 8-for-19 (42.11%) at all levels of competition this year.
Meanwhile, reigning Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour champion Adriano Salgado decided to not undergo reconstructive surgery on his right knee after last year’s World Finals, and that seems to have backfired on him. Last weekend in Billings, Salgado once again had to be helped out of the arena by the PBR Sports Medicine Team because of his injury.
Salgado has bucked off six consecutive bulls and dropped to No. 38 in the world standings. He is also ranked 23rd in the Velocity Tour standings.
No rider in PBR history has won multiple Velocity Tour championships. Mason Taylor (2020), Alisson de Souza (2018) and Alex Marcilio (2017) are also competing this weekend in Corpus Christi and could win their second VT titles.
Josh Frost/Grayson Cole: There are two riders ranked inside the Top 15 of the PRCA bull riding standings looking to punch their tickets to the World Finals via the VT pathway.
No. 2 Josh Frost, who went 1-for-3 in his UTB debut last weekend in Billings, and No. 15 Grayson Cole, who won last weekend’s VT regular-season finale in Grand Forks, North Dakota, are both riders to keep an eye on.
A year ago, Frost came up short of a World Finals berth at the VT Finals, but he has seemingly taken the next step in his career since winning the 2021 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo a month later.
Cole went 0-for-4 at the World Finals last year after advancing to Las Vegas via the Velocity Tour standings. He is 11-for-28 (39.28%) on the PRCA circuit this year, with wins at the First Frontier Circuit Finals Rodeo (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) and the 148th Silver Spurs Rodeo (Kissimmee, Florida).
The last rider to qualify for the World Finals and National Finals Rodeo was Campbell in 2020. No rider pulled off the impressive double qualification last year.
Silvano Alves/Ednei Caminhas: Three-time World Champion Silvano Alves is in danger of failing to qualify for his 13th consecutive PBR World Finals, which would be the most among active PBR riders. Alves sits in the No. 35 world ranking and is a mere 5.16 points ahead of No. 38 Salgado. Alves, who is competing because of a World Champion exemption, will need to be jumped by three riders at the VT Finals to be pushed outside of the Top 37. No. 37 Ezekiel Mitchell is not qualified for the VT Finals.
Caminhas is also in the draw via a World Champion exemption. If the 2002 World Champion could advance to the World Finals, Caminhas, 46, would break Wallace de Oliveira’s record for the oldest PBR World Finals qualifier. Oliveira advanced to the 2020 World Finals via the Velocity Finals at 41.
Francisco Morales/Griffin Smeltzer: 2017 PBR Mexico champion Francisco Morales is amidst his 17th season, but he has never qualified for the PBR World Finals or appeared at the PBR’s culminating event as an alternate.
Morales will have a variety of ways to potentially achieve his lifelong goal this weekend.
The No. 56-ranked bull rider is 51.51 points behind the world standings cutoff for the Finals, but he is also ranked 13th in the VT standings and a mere 21.01 points behind VT leader Griffin Smeltzer.
Speaking of Smelter, the 22-year-old Canadian will be one of the most important riders to watch at the VT Finals.
The order of qualification for the World Finals goes 1) PBR World Standings, 2) international wild card, 3) the two Velocity Tour standings wild cards, and 4) the two VT Finals event average or additional standings invites.
Therefore, if Smeltzer, the 50th-ranked rider in the world, does not crack the Top 35 but claims the international wild card berth, then his potential wild card spot via the VT standings would drop to the next highest-ranking rider.
There are three riders inside the VT Top 10 firmly entrenched inside the world Top 35 – Matt Triplett, Lucas Divino and Dakota Louis.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andre Silva/Bull Stock Media
