LAS VEGAS – In the Nashville Stampede’s locker room at the South Point Arena in Las Vegas, head coach Justin McBride held up three fingers.

“What are our three things?” he asked his team before elaborating.

No surprises.

No surrender.

And no tomorrow.

At that, McBride paused, grinning.

“Because of what y’all did tonight, there is a tomorrow,” he amended.

The No. 7 Stampede had just done as their name suggested and run through the Ride-In Round against the No. 8 Oklahoma Wildcatters, No. 9 Arizona Ridge Riders and No. 10 New York Mavericks to secure their berth at the 2024 PBR Camping World Team Series Championship in T-Mobile Arena on Oct. 18-20.

Nashville went 3-for-5 for a total score of 256.25 points. They’ll be joined in T-Mobile Arena by the Mavericks, who also went 3-for-5 for 251 points.

The Wildcatters (173.75) and Ridge Riders (170.5) have been eliminated.

“You don’t want to reflect too much at this point, or I don’t, but obviously it feels good to be moving on,” McBride said. “It’s a small step in the right direction. But like I told the boys after it was over, I could tell everybody was locked in. Everybody understood the task. And not locked in in a tight way, in a scared-of-losing way. Locked in in a way of, ‘I want to go compete.’”

And compete they did.

Alan de Souza led off for the Stampede, immediately adding 86.75 points to the board courtesy of his 8-second effort on Ah Hell, and Nashville never relinquished the lead.

Cody Jesus chipped in 85.25 points on Bruised Ego, and Anderson de Oliveira scored 84.25 points on Ridgeway to leave the other three teams in the dust.

Chase Outlaw bucked off Mr. Right Now, but the win was secured before Nashville’s final rider took to the chutes. It was supposed to be three-time World Champion Silvano Alves, but in a last-minute substitution, Ednelio Almeida was tasked with Hell Right – he too bucked off.

For a team that boasts the likes of Alves, Outlaw, and two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood on the roster, it was carried to T-Mobile Arena on the backs of a fairly surprising cast of characters.

Not rising star Kaiden Loud, PRCA champion Cody Teel, or former captain Kaique Pacheco, who was claimed in the expansion draft.

Veteran Souza, mid-season trade acquisition Jesus, and Oliveira, who’s in his debut season in the United States.

McBride, who’s helmed a team that’s spent much of the last few seasons riddled with injury, knows what it’s like to piece together a successful roster.

“The year we won, Kaique and Silvano were solid. They were the two constants through that run,” McBride said. “That’s only two scores. You had guys like Ryan Dirteater stepping up, Joao Henrique Lucas stepping up, Cladson Rodolfo rode a bull. That’s what you’ve got to have in this. You’ve got to have a team of guys that all of them want to be the guy. They understand they’re a cog in a wheel, but when their name gets called, they want to be the one to take it on and try and win it for their team.

“And that’s tough. It sounds really easy, in theory, but it’s tough to get. Because guys, some of them get too tight in this atmosphere, in the Teams atmosphere. Some of them are better in UTB than they are in Teams. Some of them are a lot better in Teams than they are in UTB. And you’ve just got to find the right kind of guys to get on a team. And I think any team will tell you that: it’s about getting the right guys. Yes, you want to get the highest level of talent that you can get, but they’ve got to march to the same drum at some point.”

Right now, the members of the Stampede seem to be moving in lockstep. But more than that, McBride wants his riders to leave everything they have on the dirt so they have no regrets when they look back.

“This sport is the blink of an eye,” McBride said. “It doesn't last long for you, for anybody’s career. Silvano’s had a really long career and it’s still the blink of an eye. He can’t believe it’s going to be over. I want them to live this sport with no regrets, and compete with everything they’ve got, so when it’s over, they’re not sitting around as old men going, ‘Gosh, I wish I’d tried harder. I wish I’d have done more.’ I want them to be able to walk away, whenever that day comes, and be satisfied that they have exhausted themselves in this sport.”

The next step for the Stampede comes on Friday, Oct. 18, at T-Mobile Arena. Officially locked in as the No. 7 seed, they’ll take on the No. 4 Texas Rattlers in game two. Action begins at 9:45 p.m. ET on PBR+ and 10 p.m. ET on Merit+ and Merit Street.

If Nashville wants to earn a second PBR Teams Championship, they’ll have to go through the only other team who’s won a title.

“We still have a shot right now, and that’s all we can ask for, is a shot,” McBride said. “We’ve got great bulls tomorrow. We’re going to play a great team that probably, in my opinion, has the greatest coach in the league, and has been a coach to a lot of guys for a lot of years, way before we started doing Teams seasons, and that’s who we’re up against. They won it last year, and I’m excited about that challenge because we’ve got great bulls, they’ve got great bulls. I’m sure Cody (Lambert)’ll have his guys locked in and ready to go, and I feel like our guys are getting locked in and getting more so with every step that they take in this deal.”

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media