NASHVILLE – If you had to choose one of the starting five members from the Kansas City Outlaws’ Sunday afternoon roster which kept the team from a perfect 5-for-5 (which would’ve been the fourth perfect game in league history), smart money wouldn’t have Cassio Dias anywhere on the big board.

But that was the exact reality Sunday when the team saw their closer get sent to the dirt by Stone Cold Gangster in 5.12 seconds.

Now 6-for-14 on the season after turning in a 71-point effort Friday to help his team secure a win against the Oklahoma Wildcatters and following it up with an elite 92.5-point dance with Tulsa Time, he’s snapped the six-out buckoff streak he brought into the weekend.

But he’s still somehow just 2-for-9 lately as the effects of his grueling 2024 World Championship-capturing campaign may be creeping in. When you’re compared to the “Iron Man,” none other than his PBR Teams coach J.W. Hart, you’re going to endure some bumps and bruises.

But he appears to be healthy, all things considered. And just as the ever bull-friendly mathematical equation says riders will have their down days, the same applies for the idea it was just a matter of time before Dias bounced back.

“He’s in a little bit of a slump but he rode really well the first day and then he went for 92 in the second one,” Hart shared.

Citing some concern for how quickly his all-star was placed on the clock Sunday, he didn’t feel Dias had a great opportunity to get his rope pulled. He’s not here to complain, but offered some additional context.

“That comes with the territory and it happens. We’re not complaining. If ands and buts, but it’ll work out. He’ll work it out. His mind’s right and that bull is a really tough bull, so I don’t mind him getting bucked off it. I don’t want him falling off and making stupid mistakes but that one was a tough one.”

The craziest part of Dias’ recent struggles is that the standout Brazilian is still ranked No. 9 in the MVP standings, mostly courtesy of his red-hot 4-for-5 start back in July.

It would’ve been nice to see the team produce a flawless performance had Dias made the 8.

But life goes on – Especially when Kansas City was still able to pull off an electric 337.75-0 win over the Austin Gamblers.

“It feels good to kind of get focused and get things lined up hopefully and we go from there. You’re only as good as you are today, so we have next week to work on,” he added.

When you consider they put up a sound 233 points on Friday, ending the weekend 7-for-10 as a collective unit, things are just fine both in the locker room and within the official league standings for the No. 2 Outlaws.

Victorious in their past three contests, they trail only the No. 1 runaway Carolina Cowboys, who extended their insane start to the 2024 season with yet another win Sunday.

But it’s teams like the Outlaws and Gamblers that currently best represent contingents who may be able to give the checkered-flag squad some trouble come the 2024 PBR Teams Championship.

Especially if the Outlaws keep riding so well as a team.

After Bob Mitchell was initially called for a slap during Sunday’s finale against a fellow top-tier team in the Gamblers, Hart knew he needed to use his challenge. Both in fighting for his cowboy and recognizing his opponent.

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“At that point we had gotten two bulls down and that’s all we had at the time down. We knew we had two tough bulls behind him and we knew we were facing Austin on the other side,” Hart explained.

“I didn’t see anything in the flash of it and game speed of it. Nobody else did, but it’s just worth the shot to try to stay ahead of Austin.”

While the challenge didn’t end up making the largest of differences in the blowout win, it still kept the team’s hot start alive. The way Sandro Batista has been starting things off for the Outlaws is lightning in a bottle. So it’s hard not to want to keep the train rolling.

“We try to put the big score at the front and at the end,” Hart shared, plain and simply.

The pair of Brazilians played their part throughout the team’s 2-0 weekend, undoubtedly. But the weekend overall was truly a team effort, with six different Outlaws riders making the 8 at one point.

Koltin Hevalow was technically the only rider to go 2-for-2 as the team spread out the workload. His rather rank conversion for 90.75 points atop Ridin’ Salty not only represented the 21-year-old’s highest-scored ride, but his first 90 in general.

Which is hard to believe considering how well he normally shows his bulls off.

“I don’t know – That’s for the judges to worry about. Good to see though. Good to see,” Hart shared in reflecting on the youngster’s new career-high mark.

Add in the fact he just turned in a career-best No. 10 finish during the 2024 Unleash The Beast campaign and everything seems to be adding up for one of J.W. Hart’s many youngsters.

Kansas City and Carolina are currently the only teams with three riders ranked in the Top 10 of the MVP standings, with Hevalow (now 7-for-12 and ranked No. 6), Dias (6-for-14 and ranked No. 9) and Batista (6-for-11, tied for No. 10) in the mix for Kansas City.

Getting in on the fun via a conversion during his PBR Teams debut, rookie Maikon Calixto Rocha – the team’s first-round pick from 2024 draft, a man Guilherme Marchi said has a chance to be the “next Cassio Dias” – was successful in his 5-on-5 debut. Scored 85 points dancing with Workin’ Man, the Brazilian talent may not be looking to take Dias’ job. But he’s very much a welcome addition to the lineup.

Hart has had the “Outlaw Attitude” engrained in his guys since day one. But it took the team a few weeks to rediscover what that mentality looked and felt like. To the orange and black skipper, he credits his guys coming together in getting some mid-season wins rolling.

“The message really started two weeks ago when we had what I thought was a bad weekend. Last week we started to see a little turn around and then this week we still weren’t satisfied coming in this week,” Hart said.

“We had two good practice days at home at the ranch and the demeanor of the guys, when you lay it out that we’re halfway through the season, we’re middle of the pack and that ain’t where we belong. And they grasped that and realized it. Tuesday and Wednesday this week, they turned up the focus and it’s been a completely different team than the first three or four weeks.”

Set to enter the Week 6 slate with a 7-4 record while occupying the league’s No. 2 rank, the Outlaws will prepare to face the Texas Rattlers and undefeated Carolina Cowboys at PBR Teams: Gambler Days.

That matchup with the Cowboys (potentially a PBR Teams Championship matchup?) will be must-see TV, so be sure to stay tuned to Merit Street and the Merit+ App for all of this summer's PBR Camping World Team Series.

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media