LAS VEGAS – Compliments of a perfect 2-for-2 performance Thursday evening in front of a sold-out crowd inside the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa, the Carolina Cowboys’ Sandro Batista (Pedra Preta, Brazil) won the inaugural PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Challenger Series Championship event title.

Batista was first tasked with Lady Killer (P. Ro Ranch/Lone Star/Pate/D&H Cattle) in Round 1 of competition. Remaining in perfect time with his bovine athlete counterpart, Batista reached the requisite 8 for 83.5 points to punch his ticket to the championship round.

Positioned fifth on the event leaderboard, Batista next drew Safety Meeting (Hruby/Kainz/Clay Struve/Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger). Batista conquered the powerful bull to remain perfect as the raucous crowd erupted in cheer.

Batista was scored a round-winning 88 points to catapult to the event lead. While four riders remained, Batista’s scores were unmatched, clinching the event win.

For his efforts, Batista earned $15,975 and 78 Challenger Series points. He concluded the 2022 season No. 4 in the Challenger Series standings.

Meanwhile, the Arizona Ridge Riders’ Keyshawn Whitehorse (McCracken Spring, Utah) was crowned the first-ever PBR Challenger Series Champion.

Whitehorse began the Challenger Series finale ranked No. 2 in the standings, 26.33 points behind then-No. 1 Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York).

The 2018 PBR Rookie of the Year began the event in dominating fashion, topping Round 1 via an event-best 89.5-point ride aboard Fajita (Nothin’ But Try Ranch/’Diggers Bucking Bulls).

As the last man out in the championship round, Whitehorse could not continue his momentum, upended by Whiplash (Blake Sharp/Floyd Lowery/CB & Traci Lee) in a hard-fought 6.95 seconds.

However, despite the buckoff, Whitehorse concluded the event with a podium finish. The third-place result garnered Whitehorse a much-needed 42 Challenger Series points, allowing him to leapfrog Swearingen, who did not compete in tonight’s event, for the No. 1 position in the standings.

When the dust settled, Whitehorse earned the Challenger Series Championship by 15.67 points.

Texas Rattlers standout Joao Ricardo Vieira (Itatinga, Brazil) was the only other rider to go 2-for-2 at the PBR Challenger Series Championship, finishing second.

Vieira first went the distance atop God Bless America (Hoefer/Berryman/Ogden) for 83 points in Round 1 before capping his performance with an 87.5-point effort aboard One Boot Gambler (Young Cattle Co./Prophet Bucking Bulls) in the championship round.

Vieira’s silver showing garnered him a check for $11,725 and 48 Challenger Series points. He concluded the 2022 season No. 15 in the Challenger Series standings.

Boudreaux Campbell (Crockett, Texas) was fourth at the PBR Challenger Series Championships courtesy of his 88-point ride on High Hopes (Stevens Bucking Bulls) in Round 2.

The 2020 PBR Rookie of the Year and Carolina Cowboy earned 28 Challenger Series points to conclude the season No. 16 in the standings.

Rounding out the Top 5 was the Kansas City Outlaws’ Dalton Rudman (Wellington, Utah) in fifth.

Rudman’s 86.5-point ride on Ho-Pac (Young, D&C Cattle Company) in Round 1 earned him 23 Challenger Series points.

PBR action from Las Vegas continues Nov. 4-6 with the first-ever PBR Team Series Championships at T-Mobile Arena.

PBR Challenger Series PBR Challenger Series Championships South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa – Las Vegas, Nevada Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2- Event Aggregate-Event Points) 1. Sandro Batista, 83.5-88-171.50-78 Points. 2. João Ricardo Vieira, 83-87.5-170.50-48 Points. 3. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 89.5-0-89.50-42 Points. 4. Boudreaux Campbell, 88-0-88.00-28 Points. 5. Dalton Rudman, 86.5-0-86.50-23 Points. 6. João Henrique Lucas, 85-0-85.00-15 Points. 7. Wellington Ferreira, 80-0-80.00-6 Points. Wyatt Rogers, 0-0-0.00 Rafael Jose de Brito, 0-0-0.00 Deklan Garland, 0-0-0.00 Thiago Salgado, 0-0-0.00 Taylor Toves, 0-0-0.00 Gage Gay, 0-0-0.00 Vitor Losnake, 0-0-0.00 Leandro Machado, 0-0-0.00 Dawson Branton, 0-0-0.00 Davi Henrique de Lima, 0-0-0.00 Ednei Caminhas, 0-0-0.00 Ednélio Almeida, 0-0-0.00 Silvano Alves, 0-0-0.00 Bruin Bradshaw, 0-0-0.00 Junior Patrik Souza, 0-0-0.00 Lucas Fideles Souza, 0-0-0.00 Eduardo de Oliveira, 0-0-0.00 Bill Henry, 0-0-0.00 Michael Lane, 0-0-0.00 Cole Fischer, 0-0-0.00 Junio Quaresima, 0-0-0.00 Alex Marcilio, 0-0-0.00 Mike Lee, 0-0-0.00 Joao Paulo Fernandes, 0-0-0.00 Ross Freeman, 0-0-0.00 Eli Vastbinder, 0-0-0.00 Vitor Crespo, 0-0-0.00 Nicolas Hernandez, 0-0-0.00 Braidy Randolph, 0-0-0.00 Leonardo Lima, 0-0-0.00 Caden Bunch, 0-0-0.00 Robson Guedes, 0-0-0.00 Cassio Dias, 0-0-0.00 Blake Smith, 0-0-0.00

2022 PBR Challenger Series Standings (Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5’s, Points, Total Winnings) 1. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 18, 2, 8, 194.10, $49,674.86 2. Daylon Swearingen, 13, 2, 9, 149.93, $146,062.31 3. Wyatt Rogers, 33, 3, 6, 149.50, $31,137.13 4. Sandro Batista, 8, 3, 4, 147.50, $34,664.67 5. Rafael Jose de Brito, 23, 3, 6, 133.00, $30,218.05 6. Jesse Petri, 15, 2, 6, 116.50, $64,455.95 7. Deklan Garland, 11, 1, 5, 110.50, $34,960.99 8. Thiago Salgado, 10, 1, 3, 97.00, $17,292.53 9. Taylor Toves, 21, 1, 5, 95.83, $23,905.90 10. Gage Gay, 19, 0, 6, 92.93, $26,326.97 11. Vitor Losnake, 12, 2, 4, 92.50, $17,693.84 12. Leandro Machado, 12, 2, 5, 88.50, $22,984.94 13. Dawson Branton, 9, 2, 6, 82.50, $26,498.34 14. Davi Henrique de Lima, 17, 1, 6, 80.50, $17,326.35 15. João Ricardo Vieira, 6, 0, 3, 79.00, $18,749.05 16. Boudreaux Campbell, 4, 1, 3, 78.50, $22,411.31 17. Ednei Caminhas, 18, 1, 4, 77.00, $13,353.93 18. Wellington Ferreira, 22, 0, 6, 74.00, $18,331.51 19. Ednélio Almeida, 7, 2, 4, 72.00, $17,557.08 20. Chase Wimer, 21, 2, 3, 69.00, $16,261.80 21. Silvano Alves, 17, 1, 5, 68.66, $21,558.62 22. Fernando Henrique Novais, 5, 1, 2, 66.00, $6,019.34 23. Bruin Bradshaw, 11, 1, 4, 65.00, $12,273.25 24. Junior Patrik Souza, 11, 1, 2, 64.00, $18,222.98 25. Marcus Mast, 12, 1, 2, 62.50, $28,281.69 26. Lucas Fideles Souza, 19, 1, 3, 59.50, $9,132.13 27. João Henrique Lucas, 8, 1, 2, 59.00, $8,275.12 28. Dalton Rudman, 9, 0, 4, 53.50, $11,502.58 29. Eduardo de Oliveira, 9, 1, 3, 53.16, $10,819.37 30. Bill Henry, 17, 1, 2, 50.00, $27,466.89 30. Michael Lane, 8, 0, 4, 50.00, $12,829.53 32. Nathan Hatchel, 3, 1, 1, 44.50, $3,571.05 33. Cody Casper, 11, 1, 4, 44.32, $12,070.12 34. Colten Fritzlan, 2, 1, 1, 44.00, $4,290.83 34. Cole Fischer, 2, 1, 1, 44.00, $33,500.00 36. Junio Quaresima, 15, 1, 2, 42.00, $4,161.09 37. Tye Chandler, 16, 1, 1, 41.66, $6,491.29 38. Alex Marcilio, 6, 1, 1, 41.00, $11,493.62 39. Mike Lee, 17, 0, 4, 40.50, $8,746.06 39. Andrew Alvidrez, 5, 0, 2, 40.50, $11,778.26 41. Joao Paulo Fernandes, 10, 1, 2, 40.00, $12,010.78 42. Ross Freeman, 20, 0, 4, 39.16, $10,754.21 43. Eli Vastbinder, 9, 0, 2, 38.50, $13,295.33 44. Ramon de Lima, 1, 1, 1, 38.00, $2,800.75 45. Daniel Keeping, 8, 1, 2, 37.00, $9,460.12 45. Vitor Crespo, 16, 1, 1, 37.00, $3,463.75 45. Nicolas Hernandez, 3, 1, 1, 37.00, $8,289.15