NASHVILLE – Two-time World Champion Justin McBride was headed east on Interstate 40 in his 2022 white Ford F-250 King Ranch when he peered off through the skyline to see Bridgestone Arena in the distance.

McBride’s Nashville Stampede were still a few days away from hosting its first event – Stampede Days – and there was a sense of pride and excitement that engulfed him.

That feeling of civic pride for Nashville has since permeated throughout McBride’s entire roster as the team and members of the organization have spent time throughout the week making appearances and doing media tours – including via a downtown trolley emblazoned in Nashville Stampede colors – to help continue to build fandom for Nashville’s inaugural bull riding team.

“They are really excited,” McBride told PBR.com on Friday night inside Bridgestone Arena. “It is starting to sink in that this is our home event. All of the outlets have been so cool about making us a part of this city that our guys are really starting to feel that this is ours.

“I told them ‘Boys, for the next few days, this is our house and our home to defend.’”

The Stampede were unsuccessful in earning their home city a win on Friday night, falling to the Carolina Cowboys 324-176.25.

Nashville started the game strong with consecutive rides from 2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco (88.75 on Midnight Flyer) and Thiago Salgado (87.5 on Theodore).

But Carolina reeled off four consecutive rides, nearly becoming the first in Teams history to ride all five of its bulls in a game, to spoil the Stampede’s debut in front of their home fans.

Nashville (2-6) heads into its game Saturday night against Texas (3-5) on a five-game losing streak, but McBride says he is not hitting the panic button anytime soon. The Stampede then face the Kansas City Outlaws Sunday as part of the CBS Triple Header Game of the Week.

“I completely understand it from the outside looking in,” McBride said. “What do you do to inspire them or whatnot? I am not at that point. I just don’t look at it through that lens right now. I know what we got. I know how we are working. I know how we have matched up. I know what is coming. Of course, you want to try to win every single game. You want to be competing to win every single game, but you also want guys improving themselves every single game because I want to win in November.”

All eight teams in the PBR Team Series qualify for the PBR Team Series Championship on Nov. 4-6, so McBride knows these next two months of the regular season can help his entire roster improve in time for the postseason.

Instead of always giving his riders layups, he is ok with adversity and less than ideal situations in the short term so that the team learns what it will take to win not one, but multiple championships in the coming years.

“I want to win every year down the road,” McBride said. “For me, it is about getting better every day. If we don’t get outside our comfort zone in the beginning, and don’t press what we are not good at it, then we cannot get better. If I just match these guys up to their strong suits and try to steal two or three rides a game and stay away from their weaknesses, we can’t get better that way. At some point, we will have to be better to win a championship.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

Photo courtesy of Todd Brewer/Bull Stock Media