FORT WORTH, Texas – Forty-five of the world’s most-talented bull riders entered the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Eliminations Thursday night with the hopes of securing a spot inside AT&T Stadium next weekend.
Fifteen of them combined their season-long efforts with some quality conversions this weekend in punching their ticket to Jerry World.
The other five, however, relied on their respective performances inside Cowtown Coliseum May 9-12, as the tour invited the Top 5 individuals within the Eliminations event leaderboard (not already ranked in the Top 15 of the Unleash The Beast World Championship standings) to the third and final showdown:
The 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Championship.
Thankfully for each of Sage Steele Kimzey, Andrew Alvidrez, Silvano Alves, Dener Barbosa and Claudio Montanha Jr., they won’t have to endure the potential perils of Ride For Redemption, as their efforts from the opening weekend were good enough to clinch a spot at AT&T Stadium.
“It feels good, that was the whole goal coming into it. Obviously, I would’ve liked to do it in a little different fashion, but I punched my ticket and I’ve got another opportunity,” seven-time PRCA World Champion Sage Steele Kimzey shared on the dirt following the event.
“We’re going to go home and I’m definitely going to celebrate Mother’s Day tonight with my beautiful wife and just take the next few days off and get ready for the weekend.”
Teaming up with Jersey Tuff Sunday afternoon inside the historic venue, Kimzey knew he was opting into a challenge when he selected the bull the night prior. Yet, at the same time, he knew he needed a quality score to get his name in the conversation and logged just that.
Despite starting his weekend with an uncharacteristic 0-for-3 slate, the Carolina Cowboys rider effectively blocked out the rest and concentrated on his job, 8 seconds at a time.
“That’s a really tough bull to get by. I didn’t have a great pick yesterday. I kind of just looked in there (at the draft board) and he was really good earlier this weekend with Dalton Kasel, so I thought I’d get along with him pretty good,” he added.
“I knew it was going to be a fight, and it sure was, but I just kept bearing down. I wasn’t really in a great position from four seconds on but I kept bearing down, kept trying hard and punched my ticket.”
It wasn’t a perfect season from Kimzey, all things considered. And sometimes half of the battle is fighting to see another day.
But after missing the middle chunk of the premier series season after opting into arm surgery, he’s got to be happy that he finds himself with the final pack of 25 riders set to duke it out for the sport’s top honors May 18-19.
“It is what it is. At the end of the day I just wasn’t really focused in the first few rounds and I really kind of disappointed myself with my performance. Not so much my performance but the mental state that I was in. I just wasn’t all in. I was really disappointed last night and I talked to my wife and she asked me, ‘What would you tell your son?’ and that was a hard question to answer,” Kimzey said.
“At the end of the day, bull riding is a tough sport. You’re going to have a lot of failures and you have to have short-term memory. It’s all about the next one. It doesn't matter if you buck off 25 in a row or ride 25 in a row. Each bull presents its new challenge and the good thing is, is that I can always trust in my ability and trust in my fundamentals and just go from there.”
From being a goldfish to Round 4 winner Koltin Hevalow (alongside No. 2 John Crimber and 2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco) hanging up a “Believe” sign in his home earlier this season, we’ve got some Ted Lasso fans in the locker room, no doubt.
But when you break down the lessons and ideals behind the acts, there really is something to how riders approach any given out, let alone event.
RELATED: World title race tightens as Crimber wins two Eliminations rounds and Dias is questionable due to injury
It’s not just squeezing the legs and giving your all, even if that can be a successful path some nights.
Kimzey will be joined by four fellow riders who were also able to secure their spots courtesy of just one quality ride.
Of the remaining Championship qualifiers, it was Dener Barbosa who turned in the only 2-for-4 slate of the five, doubling down Sunday afternoon with an 84.25-point dance aboard Highwire after besting Bamboozle for 86.25 points during Friday’s second round.
While Barbosa has been a staple on UTB for many seasons now, he took a bit of a quirky path to Fort Worth, eventually qualifying as one of final contenders via his status towards the top of the Velocity Global standings.
Recently acquired by the Arizona Ridge Riders via trade, Barbosa will have his smile and skillset on display inside AT&T Stadium!
In similar fashion, Claudio Montanha Jr. was able to parlay his 87.5-point conversion from Round 3 into a Championship berth despite competing in zero regular season UTB events. Earning his spot at Eliminations just like Barbosa, via the Velocity Global standings, he made sure to capitalize on the top tour when he got his shot.
Representing the lone rider of the 20 heading to AT&T Stadium not already inked to a PBR Teams squad (among those eligible, that is, with John Crimber very likely being selected No. 1 by his father Paulo Crimber and the Florida Freedom later this month), will we see his 5-on-5 stock rise next weekend inside Jerry World?
Speaking of climbing, Andrew Alvidrez endured one of the most grind-heavy seasons in recent memory, as the Missouri Thunder captain found himself relegated to the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour midway through the season.
After recording the highest-scored ride of last season’s eight-round World Finals inside Dickies Arena, he entered Sunday’s slate with an 0-for-3 slate of his own.
Similar to Daylon Swearingen the night prior, who admitted to taking the pressure off himself and focusing on having fun with the whole thing, Alvidrez attempted to relax and stop worrying about the standings. He wanted to ride bulls and soak up the rest of the weekend.
Which, naturally, led to his highest score of the season: a rank 89.25-point go aboard Dark Thoughts.
At just 7-for-36 overall on UTB, one of the hardest working and strongest guys on tour has put in plenty of reps and given his all time and time again. It was merely a matter of time before the dividends paid off once again, and he couldn’t have saved up those brownie points for a better occasion!
Last of the event-based qualifier group, but certainly not least, is three-time World Champion Silvano Alves, who topped off his slow weekend Sunday with a much-needed 87.75-point strike atop Rafter P Constructions Cold Creek.
Matching his highest-rated ride of the 2024 campaign while breaking a buckoff streak which dated back to the first weekend of March, when the tour invaded Indianapolis, the Nashville Stampede veteran was firing on all cylinders during his final chance inside Cowtown Coliseum.
Visibly excited and energetic following his first conversion in more than two months, the 2022 PBR Teams Champion continues to add to his resume, this time qualifying for PBR’s first-ever Championship event inside the home of the National Football League’s (NFL) Dallas Cowboys.
With the 25 riders who didn’t clinch their spot this weekend joining a unique blend of cowboys set to join the pack May 15-16 during the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Ride For Redemption, there’s plenty of mayhem in store during the second and third segments of the enticing three-stage format.
So, be sure to secure your seat inside Cowtown Coliseum next weekend and get ready to crown a World Champion!
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
