By the Numbers: Second-year star John Crimber doubles down in St. Louis
Kansas City Outlaws’ standout Julio Cesar Marques records 3-for-3 effort to take second.
By James Youness
FORT WORTH, Texas – It usually takes a few more weeks of Unleash The Beast action for fans and riders alike to experience a bit of the Déjà vu vibe.
But after seeing Florida Freedom star John Crimber storm into the tour’s third showcase of the season en route to earning his second win of the 2025 season, we seem to be right back in familiar territory when it comes to celebrating the 19-year-old and his flashy moves.
He’s been making it look damn easy so far this season in all honesty, officially 6-for-8 on the year.
After spending his rookie season seemingly locked into the No. 2 spot, both in the circuit’s overall rankings and during any given regular season shootout (with the youngster netting a whopping seven second-place efforts back in 2024), he’s not settling for anything less than the 2025 PBR World Championship.
That’s as clear as can be, right now.
Now 172 points ahead of No. 2 Dalton Kasel, Crimber is 100% in the driver’s seat with some 40-plus cowboys set to chase him down throughout the season.
The question remains: Will anybody be able to catch him?
Not if he keeps ripping off flawless, 3-for-for performances!
Sure, reigning PBR World Champion Cassio Dias is likely set to miss the rest of the 2025 season. But his Kansas City Outlaws’ teammate in Julio Cesar Marques showed up in a big way in Week 3.
As did a couple of Texas Rattlers representatives in Daniel Keeping and Brady Fielder, whom both ended their “welcome back to the pack” weekends with matching 2-for-3 slates.
It might not be the heart of PBR Camping World Team Series season. But with the Monster Energy Team Challenge set to begin inside Madison Square Garden in a mere three weeks, fans will want to brush up on their favorite PBR Teams’ rosters ahead of the unique 6 vs. 6 crossover spectacle.
For now, we’re keeping things man vs. beast, 1 vs. 1, with PBR.com busting out another edition of By the Numbers as we take a closer look at Crimber’s second win of the season, as well as several other standout performances and outlying numerals from last weekend’s spicy showdown in St. Louis, Missouri!
Magic No. 2: In the sport of bull riding, being No. 2 isn’t the end-all, be-all by any means. For John Crimber, it’s a figure that he doesn’t ever want to be associated with in regard to season-ending placements. However, for a youngster who’s already tearing up the competition during his sophomore season around the circuit, he’s welcomed his second win of the season via another perfect performance during Week 3’s PBR St. Louis. Recording two round wins throughout the course of the weekend, Crimber ensured both go-topping efforts were epic in their own right. Initially capturing the Round 2 win via an epic dance aboard Whiskey Trip, he posted the best score of the round by three points after earning a sincere 91.25-point mark.
Ready to ride once again when the Championship Round rolled in, he opted into a date with none other than UTZ BesTex Smokestack as he was hunting some late-event points. Exactly what he got after surviving 8 seconds atop one of the ranker beasts on tour, scored a quality 91.5 points as one of just two men to convert in the short go. Putting a bow on his second round win of the night on his way to securing win No. 2 in his second year on tour, his second 3-for-3 performance of the year led him to the winner circle. Which has us wondering if he can outperform Dias’s historic slate from 2024!
3-for-3: Okay, maybe Crimber isn’t the biggest fan of the No. 2 mark. But after being THIS close to what would’ve been a career-first UTB win, it’s Julio Cesar Marques who’s a bit bummed to be represented the second man on the podium in Week 2. At the same time, his runner-up effort marks the best finish of his budding career, so we’ll roll with the positives while encouraging fans to keep and eye on the 20-year-old skilled Brazilian. Just like Crimber, it’s only his second season as a regular on the big tour, after all!
The only other man to go 3-for-3 on the weekend beside Crimber, Marques didn’t pop off the scoresheet by any means with his 85.5, 87.5 and 89.25-point scores. But a flawless slate is a flawless slate, which ended up being good enough to earn the youngster 91.5 points and a big old check for $26,825. Officially up to 104.5 points on the year, he’s ranked No. 6 overall as he looks to trim down the 231.5 points that separate him from No. 1 Crimber, starting this weekend in Wichita!
Top 3: Podium finishes don’t come easy or often when 45-plus guys are regularly putting their name in the weekend’s hat while giving their all. Which is why it had been nearly two years (dating back to January, 2023) since we’d seen Daniel Keeping secure a Top 3 placement during a regular season premier series event. He technically finished first in last year’s 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Ride For Redemption showcase, but that’s a little different than your typical showcase. Either way, the man who throws up a big “X” after his spicy rides was back celebrating in Week 3.
Naturally, it was only right he was paired up against Big X during Saturday night’s opening round. Matching his bovine opponent’s every move, he was awarded an 88-point score as he tied Dalton Kasel for fifth place.
Improving to a perfect 2-for-2 atop Wooderson in Round 2, he was feeling himself during his 2025 premier series debut. Unfortunately for the Texas Rattlers standout, he came up just short of the 3-for-3 feat, eventually dispatched in a heartbreaking 7.76 seconds as he was forced to settle for third. The most productive of the six men who turned in quality 2-for-3 appearances, Keeping’s 174.75 aggregate score was good enough for the contest’s third best total as he captured a sound 60.5 points and $10,700 for his encouraging evenings.
Round 1, Win 1: Seven-time PRCA World Champion Sage Steele Kimzey is officially back in the saddle for his second season of Unleash The Beast action. And with the 30-year-old riding at least one bull in each of this year’s events, his ability to battle through adversity has already been on display in 2025. Winning Saturday night’s opening round courtesy of a quality 89.75-pointer atop Mike’s Motive, it’s easy to see why the storied veteran will remain a gold buckle contender this time around.
Uncharacteristically, however, Kimzey hit the dirt in under three seconds during both of his Championship Sunday dates with Ram Rod and UTZ BesTex Legend. Still able to squeeze out a Top 10 finish, his first of the season, he took home 32 points for his No. 9 finish. Not the flashiest of finishes by any means – But if the talented rider can consistently piece together quality Top 10 finishes throughout the season, he’ll be finding himself riding inside AT&T Stadium once again. And knowing he managed a No. 7 finish in 2024 despite missing some time due to injury, we know he remains a threat to win it all in 2025.
48.25: Again? Seriously?! In PBR history, there are only a combined 42 bull scores to meet the 48-point mark in more than 30 years of head-to-head competition. Four of those belong to the 2024 YETI World Champion Bull, Man Hater. And wouldn’t you know it, the standout bovine athlete punched his fourth last weekend in St. Louis, Missouri, en route to earning yet another Bull of the Event title. Marked 48.25 points for his 3.1 seconds of work against Clay Guiton, the world’s rankest bull show up and showed out in epic fashion inside Enterprise Center Sunday.
He’s quite literally history in the making at this point. And he doesn’t care who’s climbing up top these days either. Guiton, one of the tour’s young and promising talents, seemed out of his league atop the bovine. Which doesn’t happen very often for the disciplined rider. Then again, we don’t get to witness bulls like Man Hater buck every weekend, so we’re beyond thankful for his bucking talents. Whoever is able to tame the beast for 8 seconds next is promised some high scores.
