PUEBLO, Colo. — Featuring a variety of riders from experienced veterans to promising up-and-comers, this year’s Challenger Series has witnessed some of the most competitive finishes and electrifying rides in recent tour history.
With the Challenger Series Finals set to bring some of the world’s top bull riding talent to Las Vegas’s South Point Hotel Casino & Spa Nov. 3 to battle it out one last time, the stakes couldn’t be higher and the riders are all in.
Ahead of the season-ending event, which airs Thursday at 10 p.m. ET on RidePass on Pluto TV, PBR.com is taking a look at the best rides from the 2022 Challenger Series campaign.
With the 90-point club welcoming several riders throughout the course of the season, there were five qualified rides scored a perfect 90 points, with Callum Miller, Cole Fischer, Bill Henry, Ross Freeman and Tye Chandler each hitting the mark at PBR Challenger Series events on American soil But we’re here for the TOP scores of the season, so we’ll set the bar at 90.5 points and start with a pair of flashy rides from the Arizona Ridge Rider’s Keyshawn Whitehorse and the Kansas City Outlaws’ Dalton Rudman.
As a reminder, the Top-5 finishers in the Challenger Series Championship standings at the end of the Challenger Series Finals earn a guaranteed spot for the first four Unleash The Beast events of the 2023 season.
Keyshawn Whitehorse – 90.5 points (Binford, North Dakota)
Following up an 87-point outing aboard Skydancer the night before, the 2018 PBR Rookie of the Year captured the Binford PBR and his first career Challenger Series event title by posting 90.5-point score via the bucking efforts of Jungle Can Do. Whitehorse would ride the momentum of his season-best score throughout the campaign and enters Thursday’s Challenger Series Finals ranked No. 2 in the PBR Challenger Series Championship Standings.
Dalton Rudman – 90.5 points (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Representing the 27-year-old’s highest-scored ride among all levels of competition, the Outlaws’ Rudman managed an impressive 90.5-point score during Utah Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo July 21. Facing off with Alakazam en route to surpassing the requisite 8 and giving the crowd a reason to cheer, Rudman matched his bovine opponent jump-for-jump as the hometown kid exited vicariously.
RELATED: Utah native Dalton Rudman wins second performance at Utah Days of '47 Rodeo
Silvano Alves – 91 points (Dickinson, North Dakota)
Just because Silvano Alves has been around the block a few times DOES NOT mean he’s done riding. In fact, he’s just getting started. The 34-year-old heads into Thursday’s ultimate showdown ranked No. 17 in the Challenger Series with 75.66 Challenger Series points. Matching up with Trump Train Sept. 3 for an event-best 91 points, the veteran transformed into a spring chicken, meeting the required 8 seconds and exiting with his hands in the air.
Thiago Salgado – 91.5 points (Paris, Tennessee)
When he’s not backflipping his way through electrifying PBR Team Series rides with the Nashville Stampede, Thiago Salgado can usually be found putting on a show for the Challenger Series. Besting Whiplash for a season-best 91.5 points, the experienced rider will look to defend the score Thursday while attempting to build on his successful campaign. Since claiming the league’s highest-scored ride July 2 in Paris, Tennessee, Salgado has been red-hot. Trailing Swearingen by 85.43 points heading into the Finals, Salgado will look to replicate this year’s success on the grandest stage Thursday evening.