PUEBLO, Colo. – Jose Vitor Leme was absolutely dominant once again during the inaugural PBR Team Series season-opener in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Leme went a perfect 3-for-3, including two rank rides aboard The Right Stuff (89 points) and Montana Jacket (90.25 points).
Normally, a performance like that would have resulted in the two-time World Champion walking out of Cheyenne as a potential event winner, but the game is different now.
Leme is the team captain of the Austin Gamblers, but he may not be able to carry his team to the PBR Team Series championship singlehandedly. Most likely, no team will be able to rely on one rider for victory.
The Gamblers went 1-1 in Cheyenne and finished third overall largely because of Leme’s game-winning 86 points on Lil Hott against the Oklahoma Freedom and then his Bonus Round ride on Montana Jacket.
Leme believes winning a PBR Teams Championship come Nov. 4-6 in Las Vegas will actually be harder to accomplish than his two gold buckles, but it will also be just as gratifying if the Gamblers can leave T-Mobile Arena as the champs.
“I don’t think anybody else will carry their team by himself,” Leme told PBR.com. “But anything can happen. It’s harder when it’s a team. It’s going to be harder because it’s not only you. It’s your team. So you have to make sure everybody is walking the line and doing their job too, and that’s why it’s going to be harder. That’s why I want to win this so bad because if you win, you’re going to prove you’re the best.”
Leme was the only rider for the Gamblers to record a ride in their 171.5-89 loss to the Arizona Ridge Riders (1-1) on Monday night.
Leme’s teammates responded Tuesday and put their leader in a position to beat the Freedom on the final out of the contest. Dakota Louis and Claudio Montanha Jr. began the game for Austin with rides of 85.25 points (Lights Out) and 86.25 points (HomeBru) to give the Gamblers a 172.25-0 lead. Eli Vastbinder (86.25 points on Surprise Package) and 2022 collegiate bull riding champion Casey Roberts (90.25 points on Magic Bru) then put the Freedom back on top 176.5-172.25.
However, the Freedom did what no team wants to do against Austin, especially if coach Michael Gaffney continues to deploy Leme as his final rider in the competition, which is to give Leme a chance to win the game with a walk-off qualified ride.
Sure enough, Leme made easy work of Lil Hott, and the Gamblers notched their first victory in team history.
Leme then rode Montana Jacket to propel Austin to the third-place finish via the Bonus Round, breaking a tie among the five teams who entered the round tied at 1-1 in the event standings. The Bonus Round helps break ties between teams over the course of the weekend, and a team’s total bonus round points is the tiebreaker in the regular-season standings as well.
“I feel happy, and I’m ready to ride some bulls,” Leme told PBR.com. “It’s way different, and for the better. It is fun to kind of do something different. It’s more exciting. You don’t do this every weekend, with teammates, like the individual season. This is going to give us more energy, more excitement to ride. I like team deals. I like team competitions and having the opportunity to help members win and build their team and do all this stuff we’ve been doing. I cannot be more excited than I am now.
“We’ve got good bull riders. We’ve got so many young talents. We have good chances to finish first.”
To be frank, Leme will be pretty frustrated if the Gamblers do not win the inaugural championship.
Losing is not in Jose Vitor Leme’s DNA.
“If we don’t win this, I’m not going to be happy,” Leme said. “I need to win this because that will prove I can lead my team. I can make the other riders ride better, and prove themselves, and try to teach them something, some small things, that can help them in their personal life and in their personal job, in their individual season too. I’m just so excited. I can’t wait for this.”
KANE BROWN TO KICK OFF GAMBLER DAYS
The Austin Gamblers announced on Thursday that country music star Kane Brown will perform at Gambler Days on Aug. 26. Brown will kick off the three-day homestand for the Gamblers with a pre-event concert on Friday at 7:45 p.m. Following the one-hour show, four PBR Team Series games will take place at the Moody Center.
To purchase tickets to Gambler Days, powered By Dell Technologies, fans can visit
PBR.com, Ticketmaster.com, MoodyCenterATX.com or by calling PBR Customer Service
at 1-800-732-1727.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media