PUEBLO, Colo. – Sometimes these stories simply write themselves.

And with the world’s most successful bull riding entity arguably hyping up the now-arrived, once-in-a-generation talent in 18-year-old John Crimber for what seems like several years in the making, it’s no surprise that the youngster has lived up to his reputation, and then some.

Living in a bit of a shadow throughout the opening half of 2024 Unleash The Beast action, he’s watched on as a game-changing talent in No. 1 Cassio Dias has blazed his way to one of the hottest starts in tour history, capturing four of the circuit’s first 12 event titles of the season.

Coming up 12.5 aggregate score points short of one of his longtime heroes in Joao Ricardo Vieira, Crimber nearly captured his career-first honors a month ago back in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but instead watched on as the veteran closed the door on that scenario late into the contest.

Two weekends later, it was a fellow first-year talent which kept him out of the winner’s circle, as a good friend in Leonardo Castro went 4-for-4 during the second PBR Major of the season in Sacramento, California, to edge Crimber out by one ride score. Racking up a pair of runner-up efforts, he was happy about receiving the points and honored to be competing alongside guys he’s been watching (and in Castro’s case, competing with) his entire life.

But when one of the youngest riders on tour exited Los Angeles two weekends ago with his third, second-place finish of the year (watching on as Dias teamed up with No. 1 Man Hater to produce the tour’s highest score in quite some time and push the kid down one spot on the podium), he was no longer playing games.

While Robin tends to come in clutch, saving the day every once in a while, it’s Batman who interacts with Commissioner Gordon and keeps his eye to the sky for the ever-famous “Bat-Signal.”

Big shoutout to Robin (keep doing your thing, guy), but everybody wants to be Batman.

Which is exactly why he stormed into VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, just five days after his third close call, with a vengeance and determination that would be unmatched.

Proving he meant business, he opened his weekend with quality conversions dancing with Flatliner for a round-win-tying 87 points before doubling down in Round 2, this time marked 87.75 points for a tough outing paired with Border Crisis.

So, when a past version of himself may have begun celebrating another favorable finish, that was far from Crimber’s approach this time around.

Admitting to Kate Harrison during an interview on the CBS Sports Network broadcast, something changed after that most recent, second-place effort in L.A.

“I was second three times and the first couple of times, it wasn’t bad, but last week it really got to me. I was really wanting to be first, now,” Crimber shared.

“I’m just taking it bull for bull, jump for jump and just seeing how everything plays out.”

Receiving a brief tease and a little bit of strategy from his father, Paulo Crimber, the audience received word that Crimber had his eye on a specific animal athlete … but would have to stay tuned to figure out just which!

“I just tell him one bull at a time, one day at a time. Just make sure you pick the one you’re going to take the most advantage of, and I think there’s one there that’s going to fit him just right,” the elder Crimber said with a slight wink.

Eventually revealing his short round selection, he opted into a date with Doze You Down.

Which instantly proved dividends, as the cowboy went on to record the second-best mark of his UTB career en route to securing the first of what should be many premier series titles.

“That’s what this sport is all about, right there. John Crimber steps up and doesn’t just ride this bull, he puts a dominating performance on this bull,” 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis echoed on the broadcast following the epic out.

“Don’t count him out of this world title race until May is over.”

Quite the stamp of approval from one of the best to ever do it.

Scored an epic 91 points, which included a next-level 3.5 ROB (rider over bull score: 47.25-point rider score; 43.75-point bull score), Crimber truly knocked it out of the park in the most clutch way possible.

Surely Commissioner Gordon (Gleason?!) knows who to call moving forward.

Drastically closing the gap between he and No. 1 Cassio Dias (which featured Dias 435 points ahead of Crimber coming into the event), the 18-year-old talent now sits just 295 points behind Dias, who turned in a rare 1-for-2 performance en route to earning just 8 UTB points.

Now the fourth different rookie to win his career-first honors this season (joining Dias: St. Louis, Missouri, Castro: Sacramento and Caden Bunch: Tucson, Arizona), Crimber also represents the seventh different rider overall in 2024 to capture their respective first premier series win (joining the three aforementioned rookies alongside Brady Fielder: Manchester, New Hampshire; Wingson Henrique da Silva: Houston, Texas and Koltin Hevalow: Salt Lake City, Utah).

Officially surpassing No. 3 Austin Richardson in the standings (who’s expected to miss the remainder of the season with injury), there’s just one man who stands in the way of Crimber’s Rookie of the Year title and Year One gold buckle. Unfortunately, that same man seemed to hobble his way off the dirt Saturday as he failed to make the short round for the first time in a while due to what looked like a knee injury.

While Dias told Kate Harrison that he’d be in Indianapolis, perhaps a few of the tour’s veterans will get in his ear and remind him just how important being healthy heading into the season-culminating event can be.

Regardless, Crimber is here and hungry, and will be doing all he can this weekend inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse as he continues to make up ground between him and the world’s top-ranked rider.

With Unleash The Beast setting its sights on Indianapolis, Indiana, March 2-3 during the 14th showdown of the 2024 premier series season, we’re taking a quick look back at some of the numerical takeaways from last weekend’s U.S. Border Patrol PBR Jacksonville during this week’s By the Numbers!

4.75: Just 4.75 aggregate score points back from Crimber as the only other rider to go 3-for-3 in Jacksonville, Dalton Kasel came out of the gates firing in Jacksonville. Eventually tying Crimber and Cody Jesus for the Round 1 honors (courtesy of a quality 87-point conversion aboard Mama’s Boy), you could almost feel the star’s breakout event unravelling in real-time, because when Kasel seems swaggy, his riding usually follows suit. Going the distance atop Don’t Come Easy in Round 2 for 84.5 points, “Mr. 90 Points” secured a short-round dance with UTZ BesTex Smokestack (which represented his first championship round appearance since Tulsa, where he danced with … the exact same bull!). Finishing his productive showcase dancing with a familiar foe, he exited the dirt just a half-point short of his typical zone (89.5 points), albeit with plenty of momentum and a guaranteed spot on the podium. While Crimber went on to seal the deal moments later, it surely won’t stop the talented 25-year-old from celebrating his No. 5 rank, 97 UTB points and a whopping check for $20,640!The real question, however, is whether Kasel can use this close call to propel himself into the winner’s circle for the first time in a year this weekend in Indianapolis (with his last premier series victory coming in February of 2023).

Thirds, Anyone?: While Crimber and Kasel may have been the only riders to stay perfect on the weekend, they weren’t the only ones firing on all cylinders come championship Saturday, as a few other veterans decided to put on their riding boots and bare down. Entering Round 2 without a score, thanks to a heartbreaking 7.88-second effort dancing with Hoka Hey during his inaugural Friday night draw, Joao Ricardo Vieira returned to VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena with one goal: ride the rest! Eventually posting a round-winning, 89-point ride atop Doze Off during the very last second-round out, he punched his ticket to the short go. Keeping the momentum rolling in the short round, the experienced cowboy successfully selected a date with the title-contending Red Demon before going the distance in a BIG way.

Scored a remarkable 90 points en route to putting the finishing touches on what turned out to be quite the productive showcase with a third-place showing, his come-from-behind finish marked his third podium finish on the season and fourth Top 10 effort (4 Top 10 finishes in 11 UTB appearances = .363 Top 10 finish percentage, just over a third!). Ranked No. 5 throughout the tour’s first 13 regular season events, it’s been good to see the wide-smiled talent regularly produce showcases throughout 2024.

No. 18 & Climbing: Able to perform at just as high of a clip, if not better when he’s healthy and feeling confident, a fellow established rider in Daylon Swearingen turned in his best finish of the season in Jacksonville. Taking home a welcome 50.5 UTB points for his fourth-place finish, the 2022 World Champion assembled a pair of qualified rides within the same event for just the second time all season. Which is a good sign for the talent who’s endured quite the roller coaster of a season so far. Reminding folks that he’s still got what it takes via flashes here and there, he’s now racked up three Top 10 performances on the season (fourth, ninth, ninth). Able to sneak into the Top 15 several more times this season, including finishes at No. 13, 13, 11 and 14, the fact that he’s been able to regularly best at least one bull most weekends bodes well in his favor as he continues to ramp things up. Potentially most importantly, he continues to chase his first podium appearance of the season with a good bill of health, which could be key as the No. 18-ranked rider watches on as some of the tour’s top talents continue to deal with injuries in Jose Vitor Leme, Sage Steele Kimzey, Kaique Pacheco, and most recently, even Dias, who’s going to have keep an eye on his knee for the duration of the campaign. We’ve seen Swearingen light up the place with fiery scores down south in the past, and if the Piffard, New York, native can continue trending in the right direction, there’s no doubt that he’ll find himself within striking distance of his second world title come May.

20 Conversions: Riders were either excited to get back to Jacksonville, thrilled to start the second-half slate or were just feeling it Friday night, as the pack collectively recorded 20 qualified rounds in a single round for just the third time this season. Representing the third-most conversions in any round throughout the 2024 season so far, with the current top round belonging to the season-opening round in Tucson, Arizona, (where 21 different riders lasted the requisite 8 inside Tucson Arena Nov. 10-11) and 22 a few weekends later in Chicago’s opening round, Friday night’s crowd inside VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena watched on as more than half (54.05%) of the pack ended the evening in the ride column, 20-for-37 overall. While it was Top 10 contenders in John Crimber, Dalton Kasel and Cody Jesus who tied for the round-winning honors (courtesy of matching 87-point efforts), newcomers in Dawson Branton, Marco Eguchi, Michael Lane and Ramon de Lima (each of whom were enjoying their first out back on UTB in anywhere from three weeks: Branton, to two years: Eguchi.) Equally impressive in its own right, cowboys who opted into re-ride opportunities Friday night were a perfect 5-for-5, while the pack collectively wasted little time in getting the show started, as seven of the opening nine attempts (and eventually 10 of the first 15 outs) ended with a score. An extra layer of context? Riders combined for 22 total rides in Sacramento, California, a few weeks back!

Year 1, Round 1: One of the 20 riders in Friday’s electric opening round to get the job done was rookie Warlei Oliveira da Silva, who was competing in just his second-ever UTB event and sixth-overall on U.S. soil. While the 24-year-old Brazilian went 0-for-2 the previous weekend in Los Angeles, he showed up to event No. 2 with a determined approach, and it showed early into the opening go. Able to last the requisite 8 during a showdown with Grey Fox, he celebrated before the audience for the first time, as the 85.5-point score represented his first UTB conversion. He may have been the only rider on the weekend who recorded his career-first qualified ride on the premier series, but he was far from the only rookie to get the job done, as each of Cort McFadden, Julio Cesar Marques, Clay Guiton, Ednelio Almeida, Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, Caden Bunch and John Crimber also found themselves in the ride column when the opening round came to an end. Representing nearly half of the Conversion Club (8-of-20), the 2024 rookie class continues to stand out as one of the best throughout three decades of bull riding greatness.

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media