BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Winning is fun.
And so are the Carolina Cowboys, as that’s all they’ve been doing in year three of the riveting PBR Camping World Team Series.
The Jerome Davis-coached contingent improved to a league-leading 7-0-1 record Friday night in Brooklyn, New York, as the New York Mavericks made their debut inside Barclays Center.
Collecting a win of their own, it sure seemed like the year one expansion squad was enjoying the evening, and hometown support, themselves!
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But at just 3-5 on the season, they’ll need to continue stringing together some victories if they hope to one day catch General Manager Austin Dillon and the runaway Cowboys, who have yet to lose a game in 2024!
“Well I told Cooper (Davis) early on that I wasn’t going to come to a game until we lost, and he said ‘Well, you aren’t going to see us all year then,’” Dillon shared with a laugh Friday night.
“Last week we had a tie, so I think that slips in where I can come. My grandfather (Team owner Richard Childress) said ‘Let’s go to New York’ so we showed up here and I’m really glad to be here. To get four bulls rode, that was awesome, an epic game for us. We just want to keep that momentum rolling and keep it going.”
Having come up short in each of the 5-on-5 series’ first two seasons, the Cowboys were firing on all cylinders once again in Week 4. And with the checkered-flag unit set to endure a bye game on Saturday, they successfully completed yet another event without picking up their first loss of the season.
Part of that is because the squad is staying healthy so far, no doubt.
But the other part revolves around the Cowboys truly transforming their locker room from a group of guys into part of the Richard Childress Racing family.
Which means the boss man, himself, in Childress, alongside his grandson and standout NASCAR professional, in Dillon, have been around a bit more this season.
Not that they hadn’t had a presence in the past. But it’s hard to walk around an event or watch along via the Merit Street broadcast these days without seeing the team’s top-ranking brass.
That support didn’t start in the fast lane, though. It began in the locker room and continues to shine on the dirt. Amongst the men counting to 8 every weekend.
“Health is a big part of it, but I think in the locker room … each one of those guys is riding for each other. They know that the next guy up has as good a chance to ride as them and they keep that momentum going,” Dillon shared.
“We had a little snap there in the middle of the run where Adriano (Salgado – who’s bovine opponent did NOT want to stand up properly despite the ticking chute clock) couldn’t get out. As soon as that happened, Sage (Kimzey) was yelling at Daylon (Swearingen) ‘Hey. Let’s go. You’re the next guy up.’ You can just see they don’t let anything bother them and they have each other’s back in that way.”
After spending the 2024 Unleash The Beast season in the broadcast booth while resting up for this summer’s slate, Davis had plenty of time to both scout bulls and see the sport from an outsider’s perspective. So, it’s natural that the veteran doubles down with a bit of coaching advice once his turn on the dirt is over.
And for as beneficial as the 2016 World Champion has been in the ears of his teammates, it’s his red-hot riding in Carolina’s No. 1 spot which has spoken loudest.
Exiting the Week 4 showdown with a 7-for-8 record, courtesy of his 86 points of work aboard King Pin Friday, he’s sitting No. 2 overall in the PBR Teams MVP race. More importantly for the Cowboys, he remains the most efficient lead-off rider in the league.
“It’s infectious, man. It’s super infectious. He’s rode all but one bull this season,” Dillon added.
“The one time he didn’t ride, the guys behind him rode. That pressure to be able to be loose doesn’t really hang on him and it’s always nice to get that first one rode.
Greeting his wife with a sincere smooch and Assistant General Manager Tiffany Davis with a high-five and patented grin as he transitioned from the chutes backstage to his team’s locker room, it’s rather apparent that Carolina’s group is much closer to a family than that of your typical sports team.
With the team securing a big 342.5-83.75 win over the defending Champion Texas Rattlers via another 4-for-5 effort, the team’s top-tier trio in Swearingen, Kimzey and Davis each found the 8 as they continue to lead the league in points, points per-game and just about every statistical anomaly at this point.
And while the 2022 World Champion was off to a fine 3-for-7 start, the Cowboys and thousands of his home-state fans were beyond thrilled when he extended that start to 4-for-8 via his gritty Friday night finish. Hailing from Piffard, New York, Swearingen was greeted with the “NY <3’s Daylon” signs, per usual.
But he isn’t riding for the recognition. He’s riding for the Cowboys.
Just like Derek Kolbaba, who stepped up in equally impressive form.
“That was just grit. Daylon did a great job of just keeping his head down and digging,” Dillon said.
“I was really happy for Derek, too. He’s been getting a lot of bulls who have thrown some awkward movements at him and bulls that have some direction changes – We’ve been leaning on him for that. Jerome’s said that it’s coming and that he will pick it up. He told him in the locker room before ‘Hey, we know what he’s going to do. He’s going to be to the left then you’re going to pick up that direction change. You’ll be there.’ And he sure enough was. He picked him right up. That’s why we have Derek. He was a big acquisition for us in the offseason and I think he’s only going to get better.”
Successfully defending their no-loss record while getting some reps in for youngster Ethan Winckler, whom the team selected fifth overall at the 2024 PBR Teams New Rider Draft, Dillon and company watched on as their young gun closed the night out in a big way.
Going the distance aboard Mr. Wilson for 88.5 points in what became the 18-year-old’s first-ever PBR Teams conversion, he edged out the league’s MVP frontrunner in John Crimber by half of a point (.5) as he clinched the Shootout Round win for the Cowboys.
“It’s huge when you’ve got five guys and you can go in there and feel like you have a legit shot at every bull. We’ve been able to develop some of our younger guys in the Shootout Round too, so it’s been nice,” Dillon concluded.
“I think the league, over the past two years, has just picked up constantly. I can’t say enough about Cooper and Sage and Daylon and those guys. They’re gangbusters. When you put them out there, we know they’re going to go out there and put forth all of the effort we need and we know they can do it multiple different ways.”
The Cowboys, off Saturday night with a bye game, will now shift gears and prepare for a trio of contests during next weekend’s PBR Teams: Stampede Days Aug. 16-18, with games looming against the hometown Nashville Stampede, Austin Gamblers and Florida Freedom.
Photo courtesy of Leo Loera/Bull Stock Media
