John Crimber wins Round 1 of PBR Albany to further his grasp on No. 1 rank
Garnering 28 points, Crimber now leads No. 2 Dalton Kasel, who is not competing inside MVP Arena, by 44 points.
By Kacie Albert
ALBANY, N.Y. – In front of a raucous Friday night crowd in Albany, New York, teenage phenom and world No. 1 John Crimber (Decatur, Texas) rode supreme, winning Round 1 of the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast event inside MVP Arena to widen his lead in the race for the 2025 World Championship. Crimber now leads the Unleash The Beast with four round wins this season.
“Riding against guys like Sage Kimzey, Jose (Vitor Leme) and Dalton (Kasel), it kinda fires you up,” Crimber said from the dirt. “You want to be better each and every day. Watching Sage get on and ride after he got in a bind there – that was pretty bad – that's cowboy stuff, you know? It's a fight for the top. We're just gonna keep going bull for bull, weekend for weekend.”
The 19-year-old sensation who was named 2024 MVP riding for the Florida Freedom in the separate PBR Teams league travelled to the Empire State with a slim 16-point lead over No. 2 Dalton Kasel (Muleshoe, Texas), who was not slated to compete at PBR Albany.
Seizing the chance to extend his lead, Crimber was a near picture of perfection aboard Umm (D4 Redline Pro Rodeo/Double F Ranch). As the penultimate man to leave the chutes Crimber delivered an unmatched 89.5-point ride to win Round 1, nearly missing what would have been his fifth 90-point ride of the season.
Garnering 28 Unleash The Beast points, Crimber, who is gunning for his third win of the 2025 Unleash The Beast season in Albany, extended his lead to 44 points over No. 2 Kasel.
The Texas Rattlers’ Daniel Keeping (Montague, Texas) and Nashville Stampede’s Austin Richardson (Dallas, Texas) tied for second, each earning 17.5 Unleash The Beast points for their matching 88.5-point rides.
In topping Muss Buss (C-B Bucking Bulls), Keeping rose from No. 22 to No. 17 in the standings, while Richardson, who covered Mala Madre (C-B Bucking Bulls), climbed from No. 26 to No. 21.
Rounding out the Top 5 and tying for fourth was a duo of New York Mavericks riders. Hudson Bolton (Milan, Tennessee) and Mauricio Moreira (Gaviao Peixoto, Brazil) registered 87.75-point rides to collect 15.5 Unleash The Beast points.
Bolton’s qualified ride on Mr. Vaquero (Lone Star BBG/D&H Cattle/Buck Cattle) allowed him to rise from No. 32 to No. 28 in the World Championship race. His teammate Moreira, who conquered Hell Right (McGuire Cattle/D&H Cattle/Buck Cattle), surged from unranked to No. 42.
Action for the 2025 PBR Albany will conclude with Round 2 and the championship round on Saturday, Dec. 28. Action gets underway at 7:45 p.m. ET. Tickets are still available and online at PBR.com and Ticketmaster.com, or at the MVP Arena Box Office.
Both nights of competition in Albany will be available LIVE and FREE on PBR’s X channel (https://x.com/PBR), RidePass on Pluto TV, PBR’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@pbr), PBR’s mobile app (https://qrco.de/bdtdKp), and PBR’s app on connected TVs, including Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku and Google TV. The stream for PBR Albany continues Saturday, Dec. 28.
PBR RidePass on Pluto TV will offer re-airs and on-demand replays of PBR Unleash The Beast events and is available on desktops, laptops and mobile devices via www.pluto.tv.
