FORT WORTH, Texas – It may have seemed at first that Ridin Solo did not like being up before sunrise on Sunday morning, but once the bright lights of Dickies Arena were turned on, it was all business for the No. 1 bull in the world.
Ridin Solo bucked off 10-time PBR World Finals qualifier Joao Ricardo Vieira in 4.8 seconds during the championship round of the 2022 PBR World Finals for a 47-point bull score to win the 2022 YETI World Championship and $100,000.
“JRV is probably the best bull rider around to the left there is on the globe, and I didn’t feel confident that Solo could buck him off to the left,” stock contractor Cord McCoy said. “I didn’t feel confident that Solo could buck him off to the left. I know I was waiting for that changeup. I’m just glad that, through perseverance, through three years in the PBR, Solo has learned that changeup, or he would’ve lost today.
“To go out and win the world title, a sold-out house in Dickies Arena, against JRV, it couldn’t have been set up better.”
McCoy was confident on Sunday morning when he got to Dickies Arena that Ridin Solo was ready to cement himself as the 19th different World Champion Bull in PBR history when he learned Ridin Solo was causing a ruckus.
“The guys that unloaded him this morning said that he was really, really fired up,” McCoy said. “They tried to pen him by himself, and he just wanted a different pen, and he was trying to crawl up, crawl over. I’ve seen him act like that before. It’s always been a positive thing, so he’s got a lot of energy today for Sunday.”
Ridin Solo and 2021 YETI World Champion Bull Woopaa began the World Finals in a dead tie in the YETI World Champion Bull race before Ridin Solo started to separate himself.
Ridin Solo posted two consecutive 47-point bull scores at the Finals this weekend in Fort Worth, Texas, also bucking off Ezekiel Mitchell in 3.35 seconds in Round 5, to unseat the defending champion. Ridin Solo ended the season with a World Champion Bull average of 46.47 compared to runner-up Woopaa’s 45.78 average.
“He’s just a great bull,” Mitchell said. “He’s unpredictable, and he’s got everything the judges are looking for. He leaps high in the air, kicks over his head – pretty much anything you’d want in a bucking bull—direction changes. And just getting on him the other day just really let me know he’s kind of the real deal. He’s an athlete. We started out like we thought we were going left, then it looked like we were going right, then just right back to the left, all in one motion. I was trying. I didn’t fall off there. I got flat-out bucked off.
“It is amazing for Cord. He’s a great guy. That’s what makes Cord even more special to me is the fact that he’s just a genuine, down-to-earth guy. So for him to win it, he deserves it. Both the bulls that are at the top, they’re unbelievable athletes.”
Ridin Solo began with a 45-point score in Fort Worth when Josh Frost rode him for 92.75 points in Round 2 before erupting with his two 47s.
Meanwhile, Woopaa posted two of the worst outings of his career, including a career-low 41.75 points on Championship Sunday with Luciano de Castro.
The 2022 YETI World Champion Bull is the animal with the highest average bull score from their top-six regular-season outs and two outs at the PBR World Finals.
Stock contractor Laramie Wilson commended McCoy and Solo for pushing Woopaa all year long.
“He’s been phenomenal all year,” Wilson said. “I ain’t told nobody this, but after he hit his head last year in Del Rio, he seemed like he had been a tick off since then until this year. When he come back this year, he looked like he was stronger than he’s ever been. He was a Futurity world champ, he was a Classic reserve champ – to say he’s stronger than he’s ever been is pretty impressive.
“It’s not like he’s been a slouch and all of a sudden stepped up. He’s been a great bull for five years now, and this is his best year yet. It sure don’t look like he’s slowing down, either.”
Ridin Solo was 14-3 overall this season with seven bull scores of 46 or more points.
The only two other men besides Frost who rode Ridin Solo this year were two-time PBR World Champion Jose Vitor Leme (94.75 points in Oklahoma City) and Kyler Oliver (90.75 points in Glendale, Arizona).
Solo’s rankest trip of 2022 occurred when he bucked off Dalton Kasel in 4.65 seconds for a 47.5-point score in Little Rock, Arkansas.
“I think they can make him buck 10 times harder,” Kasel said. “Solo and I have never gotten along, but he’s gotten along every time. That bull bucks so hard, and he’s been ranker this year, been hauled a bunch.”
Ridin Solo traveled close to 20,000 miles this season to pursue the World Champion Bull title. The stout beast began his title-contending season on the east coast in New York City and has bucked as far south as Arlington/Fort Worth, Texas, and as far north as Everett, Washington.
“He finished really strong,” PBR Director of Livestock Cody Lambert said. “He did everything he needed to do here, but he did everything he needed to do all year. And Cord deserves a lot of credit because he managed him well. It’s a great credit to Cord. The bull did mature and settle some, but Cord never screwed him up. He found something that worked and just continued to manage him, and now it’s going to pay off in a big way for him.”
Ridin Solo used to struggle in the bucking chute and was quite hair-triggered, but McCoy never gave up on his champion contender.
Instead, he would spend countless hours sitting on Ridin Solo in the practice pen at home to help make him more comfortable.
“Shoot, his whole life, he’s brought 110%, and I think that’s what makes him special,” McCoy said. “I think people are excited to watch him, and I’m excited to flank him.”
When Ridin Solo was announced as the World Champion in the arena, McCoy received a series of handshakes from various stock contractors and bull riders on the back of the bucking chutes.
Throughout his entire riding career, McCoy never arrived on Championship Sunday at the PBR World Finals in contention for a world title.
This Sunday, his bull had the honor, and Ridin Solo left him immensely proud.
“One year in the season, I was in the Top-5 (as a rider), but, no, I never had a shot like this,” McCoy said. “I’ve only had about 12 shots at $1 million between the PBR and the Amazing Race. But to win that gold buckle, it will last forever. Today’s his day.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
