PUEBLO, Colo. – When Clay Guiton made his Unleash The Beast debut in January at the Tractor Supply Co. PBR Chicago, he had just two Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour events and six Touring Pro Division events under his belt. He was still quite an unknown commodity.

One person who did know what he’d be capable of? John Crimber.

The two 18-year-olds have known each other since they were 10 and watching each other’s rides on Instagram. They met that year at the Youth Bull Riders World Finals.

“I remember looking at his videos on Instagram and being like, ‘Dang, this kid’s going this weekend? I’m scared.’ Like, I was actually scared,” Crimber said.

“I have a screenshot,” Guiton said. “Somebody told him he was going to win, and he said, ‘No, Clay Guiton’s better than me. He’s going to win.’”

“I did say that, but that was back in the day,” Crimber joked. “I ain’t scared.”

Though Crimber was intimidated by Guiton, he plucked up the courage to say hi, and a friendship was born.

Crimber, the son of PBR legend and Florida Freedom head coach Paulo Crimber, was one of the most hyped blue-chip prospects in PBR history. He got his PBR card as soon as he turned 18 and racked up 10 event wins on the Challenger Series and PBR Canada before making his Unleash The Beast debut.

While it took him 10 premier series events to notch his first win – the U.S. Border Patrol PBR Jacksonville at the end of February – he’s still made history as the only rider ever with four Top 2 finishes in his first 10 events.

He’s currently ranked No. 2 in the Unleash The Beast World Championship standings.

Guiton made his premier series debut two months after Crimber did as the youngest rider on tour. After being blanked at his first event in Chicago, he’s been a model of consistency ever since.

In fact, Guiton is the only rider ever with six Top 10 finishes in his first seven events, leading a list of riders that includes two-time World Champion Jose Vitor Leme and 2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco.

“I really didn’t pay attention to that a whole lot,” Guiton said. “Just been kind of trying to stay consistent. But that’s pretty cool to see, to be up there with those names, in front of them. It’s pretty cool, for sure.”

Last weekend at the Ariat PBR Indianapolis, Guiton improved to seven Top 10 finishes in his first 11 events thanks to his ninth-place showing.

“It’s pretty cool to be staying pretty consistent,” he said. “In the past few weeks, I haven’t really been too happy with just staying on one, but we’re still getting in that Top 10 every week.”

In Indianapolis, Guiton went 1-for-3, riding Air Shift for 86.75 points to finish second in Round 1.

“I had to try a little bit,” Guiton said. “He kind of wanted to pull me up over him, but I knew it was a good bull. My buddy Marco Rizzo won a round on him at a Velocity a couple months back, and I was excited to have him, and it worked out good.”

This is part of what has made Guiton so successful – squeezing as many points as possible out of his bulls to place high in rounds. His average ride score is 86.1 points – of riders with at least 10 qualified rides this season, only eight have an average ride score higher than Guiton’s.

While Guiton and Crimber are having historic seasons, neither is leading the Rookie of the Year race. That honor belongs to Cassio Dias, who has won four events this season and is ranked No. 1 in the UTB World Championship standings.

Crimber is No. 2 in the rookie race, but Guiton, ranked No. 17 in the UTB standings, sits at No. 7 in the rookie standings, behind also Julio Cesar Marques, Caden Bunch and Kaiden Loud.

“It’s pretty cool to have one of the best rookie starts ever and still be behind in the rookie race,” Guiton said. “It pushes you to be better, for sure, to be around these guys. Usually, if you’re in the Top 10, you can win the Rookie of the Year, but this year, it’s looking like you might have to win it all to win Rookie of the Year. You can’t let off the gas and just got to keep going.”

He will look to keep it going this weekend at the PBR Milwaukee, presented by Cooper Tires, on March 9-10. Guiton takes on Creek in Round 1, while Crimber faces off against ProVantage Night Stalker. Action begins Saturday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m. ET on RidePass on Pluto TV.

“Just keep staying on, staying consistent, and the rest will take care of itself,” Guiton said. “Don’t really try to look long-term. Just take it weekend by weekend and bull by bull, and it’ll work out.”

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media