Nashville Stampede defeat Carolina Cowboys 251-0 in Monster Energy Team Challenge
Austin Richardson leads the way with 87.5-pointer during his debut riding with Nashville.
By James Youness
FORT WORTH, Texas – After seeing the Florida Freedom and New York Mavericks debut the shiny new Monster Energy Team Challenge (METC), presented by Camping World, last weekend inside Madison Square Garden, PBR fans were reminded of the thrills and triumphs of the camaraderie-driven series which has occupied PBR’s last three summers.
And while the PBR Camping World Team Series hasn’t returned in all of its glory, the premier series tour has invented a way to offer some of those summertime rivalries to markets across the country.
Bringing a taste of PBR Teams action into the individual season we’ve come to adore, all but two regular-season UTB events in 2025 will feature a PBR Teams rivalry game morphed directly into Round 1. For the 13 remaining weekends which will spotlight the unique series, the final 12 outs of the opening round will feature a 6-on-6 game, with all outs counting both towards the UTB event and the game results.
Watching on as Mason Taylor and Mauricio Moreira lifted the Mavericks x Freedom Championship belt in the air after the hometown kids pulled off the first-ever METC win, riders from each of the eight other squads experienced a hint of jealousy.
Sure, they had already gotten their respective chance earlier in the round to show their stuff.
But there’s just something uniquely special about sharing the chutes with your brothers. Competing alongside them with shared goals. Knowing these moments can help create some momentum and bonding opportunities for the quickly approaching fourth season of 5-on-5 suspense.
Exactly why guys riding for the Carolina Cowboys and Nashville Stampede Friday night inside Allstate Arena showed up with a little extra pep in their step.
After seeing a combined three conversions during the series kickoff inside Madison Square Garden last weekend (with the Freedom’s Alex Cerqueira joining the Mavericks’ Taylor and Moreira in making the 8), another three riders heard the buzzer Friday night in the Windy City during the new series.
Carolina may have owned a slight 2-1 advantage from the 2024 season. But it was Nashville who improved to 1-0 all-time within the unique 6 vs. 6 series' Smoky Mountain Showdown courtesy of early conversions from Anderson de Oliveira, Austin Richardson and Alan de Souza.
As a rookie on UTB, any conversion is a welcome trip for the 38-year-old in Oliveira, now 7-for-14 during his first trip around the premier series circuit. If it helps his teammates drum up some offseason momentum, the more the merrier!
And while Hudson Bolton kept his own fiery start rolling Friday, Oliveira wants to keep his name in the 2025 PBR Rookie of the Year hat and will continue to do so with quality efforts like his 86.25-point ride atop Peanut.
Produced in the No. 2 spot, Richardson’s 87.5-point dance with Chuck wasn’t only the most impressive ride of the 12-out series but represented the first time the Dallas, Texas, native has competed with a Nashville Stampede logo on his vest. Previously riding with the Austin Gamblers and Oklahoma Wildcatters, he signed with the blue and yellow unit over the offseason.
And after that debut, it’s fair to assume Head Coach Justin McBride is happy to have him on board.
Souza, who bested Black Pearl for 77.25 points, got back in the chutes for the first time in a month, last competing in Wichita, Kansas, as the veteran was healthy enough to give it a go for his squad.
Putting Nashville up three ride scores to none, the veteran played his part in helping the team secure its first win of the bragging rights-based showcase, 251-0.
Knowing Sage Steele Kimzey was recently signed to the Austin Gamblers during the offseason combined with the fact that 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis is taking his second-consecutive UTB season off, spending more time with his family and popping into the broadcast booth, means the version of the Cowboys we saw on display isn’t necessarily what we’ve seen in the past or what fans can expect during the fourth season of 5-on-5 thrills.
But it’s who they dressed and had available Friday that counted – which included three of the team’s regulars from the 2024 campaign in Adriano Salgado, Derek Kolbaba and Daylon Swearingen.
They just weren’t able to get any momentum rolling – as individuals or a unit.
That’s not to say the Stampede lineup was dressed to the nines by any means, either. With the franchise’s all-time qualified ride leader recently being named to the Stampede’s coaching staff as an Assistant Coach, Silvano Alves may have been rocking the blue and yellow logo …
… but it was from atop the chutes and within the locker room rather than on the dirt itself. On the flank of Justin McBride and in the ear of each of his athletes.
While he didn’t hear the buzzer, we also saw Cody Jesus climb into the chutes at a PBR-sanctioned event for the first time since competing with the Stampede during the 2024 PBR Teams Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Friday night’s entire Carolina Cowboys vs. Nashville Stampede METC game results can be viewed here, while the remaining METC schedule can be found here.
Next up in Week 9, a pair of PBR Teams Champions in the Austin Gamblers (2024) and Texas Rattlers (2023) are set to renew their rivalries in Houston, Texas, as Toyota Center hosts the most recent iteration of Texas Cup competition!
Tickets for the PBR Houston remain available, so be sure to grab yours and get ready to see the camaraderie-driven league’s two most recent Champs lay it all on the line Friday, Jan. 17!
