Dec

07-08

St. Louis, MO

Event Leaderboard

#1

John Crimber

272.00

#2

Julio Cesar Marques

262.25

#3

Daniel Keeping

174.75

Dec 13 - 14, 2024

Wichita, KS

Dec 20 - 21, 2024

Manchester, NH

Dec 27 - 28, 2024

Albany, NY

Jan 3 - 5, 2025

New York, NY

Jan 10 - 11, 2025

Rosemont, IL

Jan 17 - 18, 2025

Houston, TX

Jan 24 - 25, 2025

Pittsburgh, PA

Jan 31 - Feb 2, 2025

Sacramento, CA

Feb 7 - 8, 2025

Salt Lake City, UT

Feb 14 - 15, 2025

Indianapolis, IN

Feb 22 - 23, 2025

Jacksonville, FL

Mar 1 - 2, 2025

Milwaukee, WI

Mar 8 - 9, 2025

North Little Rock, AR

Mar 15 - 16, 2025

Louisville, KY

Mar 21 - 23, 2025

Palm Desert, CA

Mar 28 - 30, 2025

Albuquerque, NM

Apr 4 - 6, 2025

Sioux Falls, SD

Apr 12 - 13, 2025

Billings, MT

Apr 18 - 19, 2025

Nampa, ID

Apr 26 - 27, 2025

Tacoma, WA

May 8 - 11, 2025

Fort Worth, TX

May 14 - 15, 2025

Fort Worth, TX

May 17 - 18, 2025

Arlington, TX

Nov 14 - 15, 2025

Tucson, AZ

Dec 6 - 7, 2025

St. Louis, MO

Jan 3 - 4, 2025

Portland, OR

Jan 4, 2025

Birmingham, AL

Jan 10 - 11, 2025

Spokane, WA

Jan 10 - 11, 2025

North Charleston, SC

Jan 13 - 15, 2025

Denver, CO

Jan 17 - 18, 2025

Charleston, WV

Jan 18, 2025

Bakersfield, CA

Jan 24 - 25, 2025

Tulsa, OK

Jan 24 - 25, 2025

Grand Rapids, MI

Jan 31 - Feb 1, 2025

Laredo, TX

Jan 31 - Feb 1, 2025

Greenville, SC

Feb 7 - 8, 2025

Youngstown, OH

Feb 7 - 8, 2025

Reading, PA

Feb 14 - 15, 2025

Everett, WA

Feb 15, 2025

Memphis, TN

Feb 21 - 22, 2025

Reno, NV

Feb 22 - 23, 2025

Worcester, MA

Feb 28 - Mar 1, 2025

Norfolk, VA

Feb 28 - Mar 1, 2025

Bridgeport, CT

Mar 7 - 8, 2025

Lexington, KY

Mar 7 - 9, 2025

Bangor, ME

Mar 14 - 15, 2025

Tallahassee, FL

Mar 15, 2025

Knoxville, TN

Mar 21 - 22, 2025

Fairborn, OH

Mar 21 - 22, 2025

Wheeling, WV

Mar 28 - 29, 2025

Fresno, CA

Mar 29, 2025

Lincoln, NE

Apr 4 - 5, 2025

Eugene, OR

Apr 11 - 12, 2025

Grand Forks, ND

Apr 19, 2025

Oakland, CA

May 2 - 3, 2025

Corpus Christi, TX

Ridge Riders get their mojo back with 2-1 weekend in Missouri

09.04.24 - Teams

Ridge Riders get their mojo back with 2-1 weekend in Missouri

Despite their No. 10 rank, the Arizona Ridge Riders have the fourth-best aggregate in the league and went 2-1 at Thunder Days.

By Darci Miller

PUEBLO, Colo. – To put it frankly, it has not been a good season for the Arizona Ridge Riders.

Ranked No. 10 in the PBR Camping World Team Series standings, they’re a surprising team to see at the bottom of the barrel, given their past consistency. They made it to the final day of the PBR Teams Championship in both 2022 and 2023, finishing second and third, respectively, and ended both prior regular seasons in the No. 5 position.

Maybe not blowing the world away, but solidly middle of the pack.

Not the case in 2024, which has seen the Ridge Riders languishing at the bottom of the standings with a 6-10 record.

After starting the season 2-0 at Wildcatters Days in Oklahoma City, the Ridge Riders went 2-3 in Duluth, Georgia, and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, before going an ugly 0-6 at the following three events.

But Arizona’s season may be turning around after their performance at Thunder Days in Springfield, Missouri, this past weekend.

The Ridge Riders went 2-1 in Missouri – teams aren’t competing for event wins anymore, but it would’ve been good for a second-place finish behind only the Florida Freedom. The boys in black went a combined 8-for-15 for a 53.3% riding percentage, winning both their game and the shootout round on the final day of competition to walk out as the day’s winner.

Arizona dropped its first game of Thunder Days to the Austin Gamblers, 244.25-175.25, but even that game had some good juju. Eduardo Aparecido notched the 400th qualified ride of his premier series career with 88.5 points on Dark Thoughts.

“I’m blessed for this, 400 bull rides now,” Aparecido said. “Thank you to my team for believing in me every day, my coach. I’m happy and blessed for this moment.”

The Ridge Riders rebounded the following night to defeat the Texas Rattlers, 261-172.75, for their first win in seven tries.

On the dirt afterward, head coach Colby Yates exhaled in relief.

“Okay, finally. We can still win something,” he joked to Merit Street’s Matt West. “Man, that feels great right there. Everything was clicking. We talked about this the last couple weeks – we need to get the energy back here, and not all my guys are energetic, but they’ve got to act like that when they get back there because it goes a long way. And it just goes to show you: no matter what the problems coming your way, as long as you have a positive outlook, you can get past all of them. I was really proud of these guys today, for sure.”

On Sunday, they beat the New York Mavericks, 243.75-0, before winning the shootout round thanks to Lucas Fideles Souza riding Preachers Kid. It was for just 73.5 points, but sometimes, simply making the whistle is all that matters.

“Hey, that’s two (in a row),” Yates told West from the back of the chutes. “We just keep our head down. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but these guys are – man. We have a great team. We have had (a great team) all year long. They’ve just got to believe in themselves, and it’s starting to show, so I’m proud of them.”

Yates is right: the Ridge Riders have been far better than their record suggests. Their season-long aggregate score of 2,655 is fourth-best in the league, behind only the top three teams in the league – the No. 1 Carolina Cowboys, No. 2 Kansas City Outlaws and No. 3 Florida Freedom.

Two Ridge Riders went a perfect 3-for-3 in Springfield: Aparecido and Luciano De Castro, who, since a 1-for-7 start to the season, has gone 5-for-8.

“Man, I am very impressed with Luciano,” Yates said. “He didn’t start off how I wanted him to this season, but he’s finally finding the secret recipe and the secret sauce that we know Luciano has and is capable of. So I think, if he just keeps his head down and keeps working and keeps fighting, we’re going to get there, man.”

The Ridge Riders head to Outlaw Days this weekend in Kansas City, Missouri, looking to finally climb the standings. They’re just half a game behind the No. 9 Oklahoma Wildcatters (6-9-1) and No. 8 Missouri Thunder (7-10), and one game out of the No. 5 spot as the No. 5 Texas Rattlers, No. 6 Nashville Stampede and No. 7 New York Mavericks are all tied at 7-9.

In Kansas City, the Ridge Riders will first take on the Thunder on Friday before facing off against the Cowboys on Saturday. Tune in all weekend on Merit Street, Merit+ and CBS.

Photo courtesy of Josh Homer/