FORT WORTH, Texas – This past weekend, at the PBR St. Louis, presented by Michelob ULTRA, in St. Louis, John Crimber was preparing to climb aboard Whiskey Trip in Round 2 when Connor Cleveland of High Voltage Cattle presented him with an equation.

1+1=91.

Crimber plus the bull equals 91 points.

The 19-year-old then climbed into the chutes and rode Whiskey Trip for 91.25 points and the round win.

“I love math,” Crimber told Kate Harrison with a grin after the ride.

The math has certainly been mathing for Crimber in the early stages of the 2025 Unleash The Beast season. With three events in the books, he leads the league in event wins (two), round wins (three) and 90-point rides (three), has an average ride score of 90.21 points, and is 6-for-8 (75%).

The one blip so far was his performance at the PBR Ontario in California, where he went 0-for-2 after winning the season-opening PBR Tucson.

But he took the two weeks between Ontario and St. Louis to lock back in, ultimately turning the disappointment into a blessing.

“Honestly, that’s one of them situations that shows who the real person is in that event,” Crimber told Harrison. “I kind of took it in a good way, where I just had to go out there and get on five practice bulls this week to really get myself to get in that groove again. So I’m feeling really good. I forgot about it. It’s in the past, so let’s keep it rolling now.”

Crimber got off to a strong start in Round 1 in St. Louis, riding Mighty Mike for 89.25 points before his Round 2-winning ride on Whiskey Trip.

“Let me tell you what sets him apart,” stock contractor Cord McCoy said of Crimber’s ride. “He was rank around here in this direction, and all of a sudden, Whiskey Trip says, ‘I’ve got some new moves. I’ve got some changeups.’ And I mean, that is some bull riding stuff. Carving up the other way – that’s three different direction changes in eight seconds.”

A little while later, Crimber selected UTZ BesTex Smokestack as his championship-round opponent. And he won that round as well, scoring 91.5 points to secure the third event win of his career.

“Smokestack bucked hard today, and if you are not impressed by John Crimber, the No. 1 guy in the world right now, you are now,” McCoy said. “This is a huge ride, huge corrections at a huge level. Man, Crimber made a great ride.

“This guy has got ice water in his veins.”

Indeed, Crimber has held the No. 1 spot in the Unleash The Beast standings since week one in Tucson. He’s now 172 points ahead of No. 2 Dalton Kasel heading into this weekend’s PBR Wichita on Dec. 13-14 (9 p.m. ET on RidePass on Pluto TV and the PBR’s YouTube channel).

Two months after Crimber became the first rider not named Jose Vitor Leme to win the PBR Camping World Team Series regular-season MVP award, Crimber and Leme are the only two riders to win events thus far this season.

The two couldn’t go toe-to-toe in the World Championship race in 2024, Crimber’s rookie season, as Leme missed most of the year due to injury. Finally getting to compete with a rider he’s looked up to for years is a special honor for Crimber, who hopes to join Leme as a World Champion sooner rather than later.

“It means a lot to me,” Crimber said. “Just watching him going against Jess (Lockwood) – that year, 2019, kind of opened my eyes to how bad I wanted to be in that situation. And hopefully this year, we’re in that position. I’m really excited about the season.”

It’s already shaping up to be a wild slate of events leading up to the 2025 PBR World Finals in May. And while it might seem ridiculous to already be looking so far ahead, you can be sure that Crimber already is.

After his win in St. Louis, Harrison asked him what was going through his mind as he fought to save his ride and make the whistle in the championship round.

“How bad I want that million dollars,” Crimber said with a laugh. “That’s all that was running through my mind.”

Photo courtesy of Todd Brewer/Bull Stock Media