By the Numbers: Lucas Divino wins second event in three weeks in H-Town
Austin Gamblers’ veteran 6-for-8 in UTB competition since starting successful stretch in NYC.
By James Youness
FORT WORTH, Texas – When the dust settled in Houston, Texas, it was Lucas Divino who climbed atop the shark cage to claim his second event title in the past three Unleash The Beast events, as the 31-year-old was named the top dawg of the Michelob ULTRA PBR Houston Saturday night inside Toyota Center.
Taking home a sincere 133.5 UTB points and a check marked for $47,143 when the Week 9 showcase concluded, the man nicknamed “Jolly” had plenty of reasons for another smile.
Which means between his wins in Houston and New York City, he’s earned a combined $92,981 and 278.5 UTB points over the past three weekends. For some additional context, he’s earned more points in the month of January than all but four riders have earned throughout the entire season.
A reminder for riders and fans alike just how important winning some rounds and events is.
Both of which accolades Divino earned during his flawless 3-for-3 weekend.
Getting his perfect run started Friday night during a rivalrous Monster Energy Team Challenge (METC) matchup against the Texas Rattlers, the Austin Gamblers cowboy was able to record a quality 87.75-point dance with Mike’s Motive as he inked his team’s largest score of the night.
Re-entering Toyota Center Saturday knowing he had the skillset to double down and plenty of recent momentum beneath his wings, the Brazilian rider prepared for a head-to-head showdown with Magic Hunter in the second round.
Making quick work of the animal athlete while continuing his red-hot start, Divino earned an epic 89.75 points as he came just .25 points short of tying fellow veteran Luciano De Castro for the Round 2 honors.
Nonetheless, Divino settled for the close call while understanding he was still very much in consideration for another productive placement. But the veteran wasn’t settling for anything else than ending his evening by inviting his two children and wife atop the shark cage.
Opting into a short round date with the ever-rank Ricky Vaughn, the Brazilian knew he was shooting for the win with his dramatic selection. Exactly what he’d earn by the time his 8-second journey was over. His SECOND in just THREE weekends!
Now officially 13-for-23 on the season (56.52%), he’s currently in the midst of a red-hot 6-for-8 stretch since rounding out his first win of the season inside Madison Square Garden to kick off the calendar year. A stretch in which he’s averaged an 88.33-point mark throughout, mind you.
Having entered the weekend ranked No. 5 overall, it’s been clear Divino has meant business in 2025. However, when he prepared to board his plane home, he was occupying the tour’s outright No. 2 spot, now a mere 77.5 points behind No. 1 John Crimber, who’s potentially going to miss a few weeks of competition after suffering a nasty wreck Saturday in Houston.
At the same time, Divino is just 17 points ahead of No. 3 Brady Fielder, who’s been on fire himself.
While Crimber remains the only other man who’s captured two event titles so far this season, Fielder has arguably been the hottest of the trio, turning in Top 11 performances in each of the tour’s past four events, including his third-place finish in Houston flanked by a win in Chicago, No. 11 placement in NYC and another third-place effort in Albany, New York, to close out the 2024 calendar year.
We don’t know what the Top 3 will look like when the premier series exits this weekend’s showcase inside PPG Paints Arena. But we sure have a feeling we’ve got quite the dramatic world title race brewing leading into the 2025 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Championship!
Counting down the weekend eight seconds at a time as the riders crank their effort to the nines, PBR.com is back with another edition of By the Numbers as we break down Lucas Divino’s second win in three weeks, the spiciest iteration of Monster Energy Team Challenge action to date and tons of other outlying numerals from last weekend’s electric event in Houston, Texas!
Three Years Coming: After seeing the Arizona Ridge Riders’ veteran outperform him by a mere .25 points during Round 2, Divino eventually edged out runner-up Luciano De Castro by a mere .75 points in the event aggregate thanks to his trio of quality efforts. It was his final ride which stood ultimately stood out, as his 90.25-point ride atop Ricky Vaughn in the short round represented his first 90-point ride of the season and his first premier series ride scored above the coveted mark in nearly three years, with his last 90 occurring the 2022 PBR World Finals (a 90-pointer dancing with Gladiator’s Hammer).
When riders select that bull, and several of the tour’s other top-tier bovines, they’re shooting for a round win, as Ricky Vaughn doesn’t typically surrender a ride that wasn’t 100% earned. Exactly what Divino received a share of after tying Castro and 2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco, who joined Castro as the only other man rocking green and black Friday night to make the 8 for the Austin Gamblers. The way Divino has been riding, we’d guess his next 90-pointer comes closer to his next three outs rather than within the next three years!
Double Down De Castro: Providing two of the weekend’s five 90s, 28-year-old Luciano De Castro is 100% considered a storied veteran at this point. But he reminded riders he’s still got plenty left in the tank last weekend in H-Town as the Arizona Ridge Riders’ standout nearly stole the show from Divino! Winning two of the event’s three rounds (albeit tying with Divino and Pacheco for the short round honors), Castro netted a much-needed 109.5 UTB points as he skyrocketed from the No. 17 rank all the way up to the No. 8 spot, now 14-for-22 on the season as one of just four riders on tour with 14 qualified rides to their name ahead of Week 10. However, it’s his 90.25-pointer atop UTZ BesTex Smokestack that stood out as the star’s biggest contribution of the showcase.
Originally besting Short Fire for a quality 86.75 points in Round 1, he entered the short round with a perfect 2-for-2 slate after going the distance aboard Fire Zone in Round 2, marked 90 points for the first time in nearly two years to date (last making the coveted mark January 22, 2023 in Duluth, Georgia. Refusing to wait another two years for his next monster ride, he doubled down less than an hour later courtesy of his big conversion against Smokestack. Riding an identical 6-for-8 stretch as Divino, fans should keep an eye on the talent this weekend in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Fielder Feeling It: Skipping the first two events of the season while spending some time back in Australia, Brady Fielder wasn’t around for the very start of the season. Of course, that hasn’t stopped him from grinding his way to the No. 3 ranking in the world. Of the seven events he’s participated in, he’s managed a Top 17 finish in six of them, including five Top 11 efforts and three podium finishes (including his event win in the Windy City!) Officially 8-for-9 over the course of his last three events and a whopping 11-for-13 dating back to Albany, New York, the international talent has been perfect in three of his last four UTB events.
Most recently stringing together a trio of conversions including 88.25 points aboard Lap Dancer, 86.75 points on Hunting Trip and 89.75 points atop Electric Kitty, he parlayed yet another 3-for-3 weekend into a third-place finish, earning 78 UTB points and $13,590 as he continued to ascend the standings.
Firsts & Seconds in Week 9: At this point of the season, we’re used to seeing rank rides and competitive close-out scenarios as the best bull riders in the world continue to give their all. However, some of the tour-wide specifics aren’t always on display, with last weekend’s showcase inside Toyota Center offering some big picture feats. Specifically in the short round, which featured the first three-way tie for championship round win this season!
Seeing each of Divino, Castro, Fielder, Adriano Salgado and Pacheco hear the buzzer during Saturday’s exclusive shootout, the successful go rounded out the second-straight week with five different riders recording three qualified rides. That feat hadn’t happened in any of the tour’s first seven events of the season. Houston’s championship round also featured twelve different riders to enter the session with 2-for-2 records on the weekend, the first occurrence of that feat this season. And while we’re celebrating Saturday’s productivity, the go served as the fourth time in the pack’s past five events in which the short round has featured five qualified rides (as the first four events featured just 1, 3, 2 and 2 rides, respectively).
350.25: Riders may have needed a little bit of time warming up to the whole “game within a game” scenario invading the first round of Unleash The Beast competition with the unique 6 vs. 6 team-based format. But since working out some kinks and featuring one of the bigger rivalries baked into the PBR Camping World Team Series, the Austin Gamblers and Texas Rattlers shined during the most electric iteration of Monster Energy Team Challenge, presented by Camping World, action yet!
Naturally, it was Brady Fielder who got things started for the 2023 Champion Rattlers, marked a healthy 88.25 points as he added to his tour-best efficiency while fueling his Texas squad with some early-game momentum. Representing the highest score of the 12-out battle, Fielder set the bar for a matchup which would eventually see the highest team score (350.25 points) and overall game aggregate (522.5 points) in METC history to date once teammates in Callum Miller (87.75 points), Daniel Keeping (87.25 points) and Braidy Randolph (87 points). Add in conversions from Austin’s Lucas Divino (who ended up having a pretty decent weekend, kickstarted from his healthy 87.75-pointer) and the 2018 World Champion in Kaique Pacheco (who parlayed his hot start into a season-best No. 5 placement) and it’s clear the third 6 vs. 6 showcase of the season was a hit!
And when you consider the Texas Rattlers welcomed their new assistant coach in Brady Oleson to the chutes in his new role, he joined Silvano Alves (who stepped into his first coaching role with the Stampede the weekend prior in Chicago as his Nashville Stampede defeated the Carolina Cowboys 251-0) in becoming the second newly-appointed coach to help his squad to a 1-0 start in METC play. The Texas Cup rivals will meet again later this season in Albuquerque, New Mexico, March 28 and for the final time this UTB season April 18 in Nampa, Idaho.
