![45ba74d3-65be-4105-89e0-ad71ca0921ac.png](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.ctfassets.net%2F7sel2bql6qur%2FrPZbdJ9FDl7Yj9CnAY7Ol9%2Fc9239429fe07adb06d3995a2fcc53dc7%2F45ba74d3-65be-4105-89e0-ad71ca0921ac.png&w=3840&q=50)
FORT WORTH, Texas – It seems like we were just in Cheyenne, Wyoming, for the start of the 2023 PBR Camping World Team Series season. The conclusion of Gambler Days in Austin, Texas, marked the end of the first half of the new team league’s second season, making it the perfect time to review the action on the dirt and analyze what we’ve learned.
Here are some of the top questions year two has produced:
What were the 3 biggest surprises in PBR Teams’ first half?
Cassio Dias: In a stacked 2023 PBR Teams Protected Roster Draft, Cassio Dias was selected with the fifth overall pick in the first round by the Kansas City Outlaws. Overshadowed by Kansas City’s trade for 2023 Rookie of the Year runner-up Wingson Henrique da Silva, 21-year-old Dias has taken PBR Teams by storm. Going 9-for-11 to post a scorching 81% ride percentage, the young cowboy currently leads the MVP race, 2.5 points ahead of Jose Vitor Leme.
Vitor Losnake: After going 7-for-18 last year for the Arizona Ridge Riders, Vitor Losnake could have been projected to be a solid rider for a team that finished 14-13 in 2022. However, few predicted the 19-year-old Brazilian would be sitting No. 8 in the MVP race and leading a team that features Eduardo Aparecido, Luciano de Castro and Keyshawn Whitehorse. While the Ridge Riders’ overall success hasn’t followed, Losnake and his signature bull plushie (a keepsake from his sister in Brazil) have put together a solid campaign and, should the rest of Arizona round into form, could help catapult a quietly improving team up the standings in reaching Las Vegas, where they caught fire last season.
Elizmar Jeremias: Elizmar Jeremias seemingly came out of nowhere to lead the Oklahoma Freedom by going 5-for-12 (41%) and now sitting ninth in the MVP standings. Selecting him in the first round of the 2023 Reserve Roster Draft, Oklahoma may have viewed Jeremias as a prospect who had the potential to develop into a solid rider in a year or two. Instead, the Freedom found their best rider of 2023, and he has propelled them to a No. 3 spot in the standings entering their early September homestand at Paycom Center from Sept. 8-10
Which team is the biggest disappointment so far?
Carolina Cowboys: While the easy pick here is last year’s champion Nashville Stampede with only 12 total rides at the 2023 regular season halfway point, that team caught lightning in a bottle in the postseason and has been without star Kaique Pacheco all season. Despite sitting No. 4 in the standings with a 7-6 record, the stacked Carolina Cowboys have to be considered the biggest disappointment this season, especially after how they started the year. With a roster featuring a pair of former PBR World Champions and the additions of both Sage Kimzey and Josh Frost with the first two picks in the 2023 Protected Roster Draft, Carolina began the season as a title-favorite and certainly a team that should be closer to the Top 3, not five games back of the No. 1 spot. While the team has battled injuries all season and may stage a late-season surge, the Cowboys certainly haven’t lived up to expectations five events in.
![Weekly Tune-In Schedule Promo](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.ctfassets.net%2F7sel2bql6qur%2F78rs4FMIct4kiggR8r8NsY%2F4cfa552eb1ad72479d3e253b6bae631e%2Fad462168-1fd8-489d-8ffa-1140c5e14c9a.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
Which team is the biggest surprise this season?
Kansas City Outlaws: Fueled by breakout rookie Cassio Dias, the Kansas City Outlaws are currently No. 2 in the standings with an 8-5 record. While just two games separate teams ranked No. 2 to No. 5 in the standings, the Outlaws are the only team other than No. 1 Austin that has two riders with a 60% ride percentage (Dias – 81.8% and Wingson Henrique da Silva – 60%) and have won the only two events (Nashville/Kansas City) not won by Austin. In addition to Silva and Dias, the Outlaws have also gotten solid contributions from Marcus Mast and Leonardo Castro Ferreira, while 19-year-old Julio Cesar Marques has shown flashes of being a potential star in the near future.
PBR Teams is a sport of momentum. Who has it? Why?
Austin Gamblers: The Austin Gamblers topped off an incredible first half with the most dominant performance of the season at their Gambler Days homestand, going 3-0 and winning their third event of the season without even needing Extra Outs. Both Jose Vitor Leme and Dalton Kasel have rounded back into form after battling injuries and having disappointing outings at the 2023 PBR World Finals, sitting at No. 2 and No. 3 in the MVP race at the break. Should Austin be able to avoid injury and a catastrophic collapse, the Gamblers will enter Las Vegas with a first-round bye and be heavy favorites to bring a PBR Teams Championship back to the Lone Star State’s capital.
RELATED: By the Numbers: Gamblers remain dominant, earn third title in five events
Poised for the biggest turnaround?
Texas Rattlers: Somehow, someway, the Texas Rattlers are sitting below .500 with a 6-7 record, despite being third in Team Score with 2,077 points, just 107 points behind the No. 1 Austin Gamblers. The Rattlers have had some extremely bad luck, as opposing teams have scored 1992.25 points against them this year. Texas also boasts an extremely deep roster – all nine riders with an out have made the horn at least once for the team, and they are one of just three teams (Kansas City, Carolina) with three riders posting a 50% or better riding percentage. Just two games out of the No. 2 seed, the Rattlers are poised to rocket up the standings and contend for a bye in the 2023 PBR Teams Championship in Las Vegas.
What have we learned in the first half?
The Future is Bright. Three of the eight teams’ best riders this season are rookies. Cassio Dias in Kansas City, Elizmar Jeremias in Oklahoma and Kade Madsen in Missouri are each the top-performing riders within their respective clubs. In addition, six of the Top 10 riders in the MVP standings are under the age of 25, led by the 21-year-old Dias, who is currently No. 1, 2.5 points in front of Jose Vitor Leme. While veterans Leme, Silvano Alves and Joao Ricardo Vieira are all having fantastic seasons, this PBR Teams season has shown that the next generation of PBR stars have arrived.
What does the Commissioner think?
“The most exciting thing to me in our second Teams season is witnessing the pounding excitement in the building,” said PBR Commissioner and CEO Sean Gleason. “Fans rooting for their home team are extremely excited about the outcome of every single ride. I’ll never forget in Kansas City looking over at a fan just wringing her Outlaws handkerchief for Koltin Hevalow’s ride. And the game was decided already! She was jumping up and down and screaming. And she wasn’t the only one. That level of passion is spreading throughout every arena. I was hoping that would eventually happen but to see it in the second season? I’m just ecstatic.”
What can fans look forward to in the second half as we head to the 2023 PBR Camping World Team Series Championship in Las Vegas October 20-22?
The big question is: Can the Austin Gamblers can keep up the torrid pace? The high-flying Gamblers have become must-watch TV for PBR fans. In the first two regular seasons of PBR Teams, the team has posted a ridiculous 28-13 record. While they were stunned by the Nashville Stampede in Las Vegas last year, the Gamblers still must be considered the heavy favorites to win a PBR Teams Championship if they enter the postseason with their second-consecutive No. 1 seeding. The team has already won three events, tying the 2022 Texas Rattlers for the most event wins in the regular season with half the season yet to play. Both Jose Vitor Leme and Dalton Kasel have returned to top form (posting 18 of the team’s 26 rides at the halfway point). If other riders increase their production, the appropriately black-and-green-clad Gamblers will truly take on the “Evil Empire” role in PBR Teams.
Photo courtesy of Todd Brewer/Bull Stock Media