LOUSIVILLE, Ky. – Brady Turgeon turned in the best premier-series performance of his short career at the best possible time.
The 19-year-old went 2-for-3 to place third overall at the PBR Cooper Tires Invitational, presented by Kubota, in Louisville, Kentucky – the regular-season finale.
With the 67.5 points he earned towards the Unleash The Beast standings, he’s now ranked No. 41 and officially punched his ticket to the 2023 PBR World Finals on May 12-21 in Fort Worth, Texas.
“Amazing,” Turgeon said earnestly upon hearing the news. “That’s what I wanted to shoot for, so that’s a dream come true, right there. And many, many more to come, for sure.”
Turgeon started the weekend in Louisville off strong, placing second in Round 1 with 88.25 points on Bomb Diggity. He then rode Train Station for 86 points in Round 2.
“It felt pretty good,” Turgeon said of his Round 2 ride. “I was kind of more thinking he was going to jump out and go to the right because usually, I don’t get too lucky with bulls going right there out of the gate, but it felt good. I was able to pick him up just right and able to focus on what I was doing.”
He was bucked off by UTZ BesTex Legend in the championship round. But third place is nothing to sneeze at, especially since he finished behind 2016 PBR Brazil Champion Dener Barbosa and two-time World Champion Jose Vitor Leme – two big names on a big stage.
“These last couple events, it’s been just a little bit of pressure because I’m the young guy here and everything like that,” Turgeon said. “Kind of getting down on myself, not riding to my full potential that I know I can do. And I’ve finally got some ground around here and am able to ride bulls like how I know how. So it’s awesome. I love it.”
Indeed, Turgeon had been blanked on last week’s swing through Washington, going a combined 0-for-4 in Everett and Tacoma. He was also blanked in his premier series debut in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but he placed ninth in Nampa, Idaho, and fifth in Billings, Montana, earlier in April.
His fifth-place showing in Billings came thanks to his career-first 90-point ride – aboard Tijuana Two-Step – and accompanying round win.
“It was awesome,” Turgeon said. “All I did was just ride bulls like I know how. We have a good chunk of practice bulls – my parents own a restaurant and saloon, and we do bull riding every weekend there. That bull reminded me just of a couple of the bulls that we have, just lickety-split right there, and it felt like home, almost. It was awesome.”
The restaurant in question is Roadrunner Restaurant & Saloon in New River, Arizona, just north of Phoenix. The Turgeon family has a few acres and a bull riding arena, where they hold concerts and other events alongside the bull riding. They had been bucking bulls there for a year when the original owner decided they didn’t want to continue the bull riding.
“It brought a load of people to the bar. So we were like, ‘No, we’re not going to get rid of it. We’re going to buy the bar,’” Turgeon said. “So we grew it up to where it is now. We get at least a thousand people every Saturday night to come and watch. It’s a really good show. It’s awesome. And we have burgers, salads, kind of bar food, pretty much.”
The PBR World Finals in Dickies Arena is a long way from local bull riding.
Turgeon will make his World Finals debut in two weeks as he’s finally starting to feel comfortable going toe-to-toe with the best bull riders in the world.
“It’s awesome. I love it,” Turgeon said. “Like I said, I was a little skeptical at first, ‘cause I’m riding with the best bull riders in the world, and it’s a little intimidating at first. But I started just calming down and getting back to my roots, and I’m hanging right with them.”
Photo courtesy of Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media
