CHARLESTON, W.V. – In front of a raucous Friday night crowd in Charleston, West Virginia, Claudio Montanha Jr. (Pacembu, Brazil) rode supreme, winning Round 1 of the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour inside the Charleston Civic Center to surge to an early lead in the ZipRecruiter Capital City Classic.
Montanha Jr. led the pack of competitors compliments of an 85-point score earned aboard Jeff (Julian Cattle).
The 8-second effort garnered the charismatic Brazilian a crucial 28 Velocity Global points.
While he currently leads the event, Montanha is within the sights of Hunter Ball (Carsonville, Michigan) and Bennie Shetler (Heuvelton, New York), who tied for second in Round 1.
The duo of cowboys trail the top position by a mere 0.5 points after each delivered an 84.5-point score to net 17.5 Velocity Global points.
Ball conquered Next Question (UTC/Sellers Bucking Bulls), while Shetler went the distance atop Area 51 (LH Cattle Co./Sho-Me Rodeo).
Fourth was Leonardo Lima (Vale do Paraiso, Brazil).
Lima reached the whistle atop Whip (White/Knapp Ranch) for 84 points to leave the Charleston Civic Center with 16 Velocity Global points.
Josh Stepp (Hendersonville, North Carolina) rounded out the Top 5 in fifth.
Drawing One Boot Patches (Obernagel/Sho-Me Rodeo), Stepp matched the animal athlete jump-for-jump en route to an 83-point score, earning him an accompanying 15 Velocity Global points.
Three additional contenders also delivered scores in Round 1 of the PBR ZipRecruiter Capital City Classic.
Patterson Starcher (Tonganoxie, Kansas) and Ramon de Lima (Rio Branco, Brazil) tied for sixth, each collecting 13.5 Velocity Global points.
Delivering matching 82-point rides, the pair covered Jake Brake (Clark View Farms/Jenkins Cattle) and Blackened (Crooked Crown Bucking Bulls/Braswell Bucking Bulls), respectively.
As the final rider to earn a score, Flavio Ziveri (Balsamo, Brazil) was eighth. He bested Sundance (Damn Skippy Ranch/S&S Bucking Bulls) for 79.5 points to earn 11 points in the race for the 2023 PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Championship.
Action for the PBR ZipRecruiter Capital City Classic will conclude with Round 2 and the championship round on Saturday, Jan. 14. Action gets underway at 7 p.m. EST.
PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour
PBR ZipRecruiter Capital City Classic
Charleston Civic Center – Charleston, West Virginia
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3- Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Claudio Montanha Jr., 85-0-0-85.00-28 Points.
2. Hunter Ball, 84.5-0-0-84.50-17.5 Points.
(tie). Bennie Shetler, 84.5-0-0-84.50-17.5 Points.
4. Leonardo Lima, 84-0-0-84.00-16 Points.
5. Josh Stepp, 83-0-0-83.00-15 Points.
6. Patterson Starcher, 82-0-0-82.00-13.5 Points.
(tie). Ramon de Lima, 82-0-0-82.00-13.5 Points.
8. Flavio Zivieri, 79.5-0-0-79.50-11 Points.
Justin Ethridge, 0-0-0-0.00
Mason Moody, 0-0-0-0.00
Griffin Smeltzer, 0-0-0-0.00
Weston Davidson, 0-0-0-0.00
Francisco Morales, 0-0-0-0.00
Matt Allgood, 0-0-0-0.00
Brandon Ballard, 0-0-0-0.00
Alex Jenks, 0-0-0-0.00
Junio Quaresima, 0-0-0-0.00
Storm Howard, 0-0-0-0.00
Stefan Tonita, 0-0-0-0.00
Carlos Garcia, 0-0-0-0.00
Alecio Ferreira da Costa, 0-0-0-0.00
Dakota Eagleburger, 0-0-0-0.00
Kyle Jones, 0-0-0-0.00
Casey Coulter, 0-0-0-0.00
Michael Lane, 0-0-0-0.00
Dustin Martinez, 0-0-0-0.00
Trace Brown, 0-0-0-0.00
Hayden Harris, 0-0-0-0.00
Dylan Smith, 0-0-0-0.00
Eduardo de Oliveira, 0-0-0-0.00
Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-0-0-0.00
Tyler Manor, 0-0-0-0.00
Beau Caplinger, 0-0-0-0.00
Perry Schrock, 0-0-0-0.00
Anthony Hopen, 0-0-0-0.00
Brayden Knight, 0-0-0-0.00
Nick Goncalves, 0-0-0-0.00
Eli Miller, 0-0-0-0.00
Keith Hall, 0-0-0-0.00
Isaiah Taylor, 0-0-0-0.00
Photo courtesy of Andre Silva/Bull Stock Media
