PUEBLO, Colo. — The leader and outright favorite to capture the 2024 PBR Teams Championship in the No. 1 Carolina Cowboys continue to pace the pack as their historic start to the season keeps chugging along.

Now 3.5 games ahead of their closest competition, they’re starting to run away with things, hoping to become the first team to officially clinch their spot at the 2024 PBR Teams Championship.

With Carolina doing their thing, it’s the regular season race’s second seed which has endured the most change here lately.

Each of the Oklahoma Wildcatters, Austin Gamblers and Arizona Ridge Riders have sat in the No. 2 spot at various times over the last month. Those honors currently belong to the Kansas City Outlaws, though, who are bringing a three-game win streak into this weekend’s PBR Teams: Gambler Days.

RELATED: Freshly-focused Kansas City Outlaws firing on all cylinders

Knocking down seven of their bulls in game play, a productive product was on display inside Bridgestone Arena as the orange and black squad strung a few together.

However, it could be Cassio Dias’ Shootout Round dance that may have been the biggest flash for J.W. Hart’s Outlaws.

It wasn’t just Dias who stepped up in Nashville, though, as six different Outlaw team members recorded qualified rides on the weekend. If they want to keep pace with the Cowboys, who are averaging 245.4 points per game, they’re going to need several reliable guys to get the job done.

Between Koltin Hevalow, Julio Cesar Marques, Sandro Batista, Bob Mitchell, Brennon Eldred, Maikon Calixto Rocha and the 2024 PBR World Champion Dias, it appears they will have a shot in Las Vegas if they can stay healthy and hungry.

Last weekend’s PBR Teams: Stampede Days saw several storylines play out, thus affecting the Week 6 power rankings.

The hometown Nashville Stampede secured a pair of wins on a 2-1 showcase and the Austin Gamblers’ Jose Vitor Leme rode his way to the top of the PBR Teams MVP race.

The Texas Rattlers snapped a six-game losing streak while going 2-0 inside Bridgestone Arena, while the Missouri Thunder pieced together a quality 2-1 record of their own in climbing both league standings and this week’s power rankings.

League play saw several close games in Week 5, including seven contests which ended with one-ride score deficits and three decided within less than a point on Saturday evening.

And the walk-off wins? Every where you looked as the 5-on-5 drama continues to build!

RELATED: #InCaseYouMissedIt: Nashville Stampede provide fireworks for home crowd at Stampede Days

Plus, the Nashville Stampede kept the hometown luck alive, becoming the fourth team this season to capture a pair of wins in their home market.

And there’s a new man on top of the PBR Teams MVP race: Jose Vitor Leme.

Perhaps you’ve heard of him?

With five of 12 regular season events already in the book, the camaraderie-driven action continues this weekend inside Moody Center in Austin, Texas, with all of this summer’s action set to air on Merit Street and the Merit+ App, continuing Friday night at 9 p.m. EST.

Fans can stay tuned to the league’s official 2024 PBR Camping World Teams Series standings here throughout the action-packed season and are encouraged to share their own rankings with us on @PBR social media channels!

No. 1: Carolina Cowboys (Week 5 Rank: No. 1) If there’s one main outlier from the 2024 PBR Camping World Team Series, it’s the No. 1-ranked Carolina Cowboys, now 10-0-1 as their red-hot start continues to wow crowds around the country. Most recently picking up a pair of wins in Nashville, Tennessee, they seem unstoppable right now. And have been exactly that with Sage Steele Kimzey, Daylon Swearingen and Cooper Davis remaining ranked in the Top 10 of the MVP Teams race while giving all they’ve got for Head Coach Jerome Davis and teammates. The No. 2 Outlaws are the only other squad bringing three riders in the same company into this weekend’s quickly approaching Gambler Days! With Carolina getting Friday night off, they’ll return to Moody Center Saturday, where Kansas City awaits a chance to knock off the league-leading contingent!

No. 2: Kanas City Outlaws (Week 5 Rank: No. 3) Bringing a three-game win streak into the Week 6 affair, the Outlaws have been firing on all cylinders here lately. Back up to the No. 2 rank in both the official league standings and this week’s power rankings, they’re just 3.5 games behind the runaway Cowboys. And if they can keep up the true team effort, with several non-starters finding the 8 when given a shot, this will be a team worth keeping an eye on. For the rest of the regular season and playoff gauntlet alike!

Seeing Dias return with a 92 means this team is very capable of winning it all. But it’s been the quality contributions Koltin Hevalow, Sandro Batista and friends have been bringing to the table lately which makes them such a threat. They join the Gamblers in serving as the best chance of spoiling Carolina’s lossless run.

No. 3: Austin Gamblers (Week 5 Rank: No. 2) Dalton Kasel returned to the lineup. Kaique Pacheco had some success before his old Nashville Stampede crowd. Jose Vitor Leme had a rank 91.25-point out amongst his pair of conversions. But it wasn’t enough for Austin in Week 6, as they went 1-2 overall despite fielding a healthy squad. Leme was, however, able to claim his spot atop the MVP standings, which means the green and blank contingent is ready to make another run. We may have saw the team’s five-game win streak come to an end but they remain one of the most talented squads on tour. And with Leme in the fold, one of the most electric commodities on tour. Coming up just short of the Texas Rattlers during the 2023 PBR Teams Championship, they’re riding with plenty of reasons to ensure their spot inside T-Mobile Arena Oct. 18-20.

No. 4: Nashville Stampede (Week 5 Rank: No. 6) Turned in a 2-1 record as the trend of hometown units securing two wins continued, the Nashville Stampede are rocking in the No. 4 spot this weekend, now 7-5 on the season overall. Hell, they’re technically No. 3 in the league standings – But when it comes to star power, we have the Gamblers just ahead. Kaiden Loud was easily the biggest mover and shaker on the weekend, though, as the youngster secured both of the team’s wins in walk-off fashion.

RELATED: Nashville Stampede conclude homestand with walk-off victory against New York Mavericks

Defeating a team by eight points, as they did Saturday night in getting a win over the Ridge Riders, isn’t much of a brag. But when you consider the league’s ever-close standings, one game could 100% have an impact on who clinches their spots in the playoffs and who is forced to ride their way in via the dramatic antics at South Point, now less than two months away. Even Sunday’s finale was one with just one ride score on the board. But if it counts as a win, the Stampede and any of the league’s nine units will take it.

No. 5: Arizona Ridge Riders (Week 5 Rank: No. 5) The league seems to have separated itself in two tiers, with the Top 4 existing in one group and the bottom 6 now all together in similar boats. That tier starts with the Arizona Ridge Riders, who have plenty of talent but just haven’t been able to string together three rides in the same game in a while. Since July 27 back in Duluth, Georgia, to be exact. And with each of the four teams above them roughly averaging three qualified rides per game, they need to take a collective step forward if they want to ascend back to the top tier. More importantly, if they want to find themselves dancing on Championship Sunday in Las Vegas for a third-straight season. Canadian Nick Tetz returned from the Excused Absence List but looked a bit banged up, thus was held out of the lineup. Keyshawn Whitehorse, now 6-for-11 on the season, remains the team’s most productive rider so far in 2024, with Eduardo Aparecido close behind via his 5-for-12 start. But the duo represents the squad’s only two riders with four-plus rides. They’ve been able to assemble plenty of one and two-ride efforts, but it’s that magical third ride that will keep them competitive most nights.

No. 6: Oklahoma Wildcatters (Week 5 Rank: No. 4) After beginning their first season with quite the heroic effort, the Wildcatters haven’t enjoyed a victory lap in 18 days, dating back to a win in Sunrise, Florida. And with J.B. Mauney serving as the team’s locker room leader, that’s not a fact the Dragon Slayer wants thrown around. They’ll be doing all they can to ride the down stretch here in Austin, but the team hasn’t been in sync like they were through Week 3 or so. That same weekend at PBR Teams: Freedom Days, they endured a tie with the No. 1 Carolina Cowboys. But it’s been a bit imperfect since then, now 2-for-15 since tying Carolina. They nearly defeated the Thunder last weekend in Nashville, eventually edged out by .25 points. But after producing a zero in two of their last three attempts, they need to press the reset button in Week 6. With a three-game slate coming up this weekend, with games against Arizona, Texas and New York, each of which sit below them in the PBR Teams standings, they have a huge opportunity to right their ship.

No. 7: Missouri Thunder (Week 5 Rank: No. 9) The Thunder nearly earned a fruitful 3-0 record if not for a clutch, historic ride from Joao Ricardo Vieira, who clinched Sunday’s showdown for the Texas Rattlers en route to moving his way up the all-time premier series qualified ride charts, now fifth all-time with 431. During the team’s pair of wins, they saw great strides from veteran leader Andrew Alvidrez, who was 3-for-3 on the weekend despite being kept out of the original lineup Friday night. Stepping in to deliver a re-ride conversion before staying hot all weekend long, it was a favorable showing for the Thunder, one of the few teams in the bottom 6 who enjoyed their results from Nashville. If Boudreaux Campbell gets back to his normal form, he, Alvidrez, Paulo Eduardo Rossetto (who’s been on quite the heater lately) and company very much have what it takes to make another run this fall.

No. 8 Florida Freedom (Week 5 Rank: No. 7) Drawing the Carolina Cowboys and Austin Gamblers in the same weekend typically doesn’t bode well. Even for teams like the Florida Freedom, who have 19-year-old phenom John Crimber on the roster. But with Crimber going an uncharacteristic 0-for-2 last weekend while allowing Leme to pass him in the MVP race, the Freedom need to shake some things up if they want to shake this three-game losing streak. Just 1-for-15 over that winless stretch, not even Crimber has been his typical invincible self. Crimber would’ve potentially had one of the highest-scored rides in PBR Teams history under his belt Sunday had he survived his out aboard UTZ BesTex Legend. With showdowns against the Ridge Riders and Stampede, both of which sit above them in the standings, they’d be wise to come out with a quality effort as they look to improve their 4-7 record.

No. 9: Texas Rattlers (Week 5 Rank: No. 10) Four teams bring identical 4-7 records into the Week 6 slate. But only one of those four squads managed a 2-0 slate inside Bridgestone Arena last weekend. That was the Texas Rattlers, who snapped a six-game losing streak while getting a two-piece in their favor going.

RELATED: Texas Rattlers snap six-game losing streak via dramatic JRV walk-off

That said, it’s pretty hard to get a sixer going in this league with the amount of parity right now. Which is why Texas is still holding down the No. 9 spot. Brady Fielder, Marcelo Procopio Pereira and JRV each lead the team with five qualified rides, now ranked No. 13, 15 and 16 respectively in the MVP race. But if they want to climb out of the near-basement of the standings, they need that trio to convert more regularly, if not see the likes of Daniel Keeping or Mason Taylor turn things around. Then again, they are the defending Champions and have taken two different, crazy routes to the postseason in the past. So, we aren’t counting out the Rattlers quite yet. Especially when you consider another pair of wins in Austin could vault them up the standings pretty quickly.

No. 10: New York Mavericks (Week 5 Rank: No. 8) Even with comedian turned podcasting talent Theo Von cheering them on from atop the chutes, the New York Mavericks weren’t able to get the job done in Nashville. Bringing in a spicy 4-1 record in their past five games into Stampede Days, they unfortunately dropped both of last weekend’s contests while falling back to the No. 10 spot. Marco Rizzo should be back from injury, and ready to make his 5-on-5 debut soon. With Braidy Randolph and Vitor Losnake out with their own bumps and bruises, the injury bug hasn’t been too kind to the Mavericks. They may trail the other three 4-7 teams anywhere from 400-600 aggregate points, but the record is all that matters right now. Just like the Rattlers, Freedom and Ridge Riders, they’re merely a few wins away from earning a much better spot in the standings. However, they’ll have to ride some bulls in order for that to happen. They had three rides on the board Saturday night, but eventually saw the Rattlers edge them out by 4.25 points. However, they’ll want the no-score effort back from Sunday’s finale. Something they’ll look to avoid this weekend in Austin.

Fans are encouraged to share their feedback and power rankings of their own by tagging @PBR social media channels!

Summer supporters can also stay tuned to PBR.com and Merit Street platforms as we dive into the league’s power rankings, one week at a time!

Photo courtesy of Todd Brewer/Bull Stock Media