FORT WORTH, Texas – Between the tour’s young stars and long-established veterans, PBR has established its thunder and lightning for the 2025 Unleash The Beast campaign for the most part.

However, that won’t stop a grinding rookie talent like Vinicius Pinheiro Correa from embracing the premier series storm as he takes first trip around the top-tier circuit. 

Sure, he spent a majority of the 2024 calendar year improving his game within PBR Brazil competition.

But since stepping foot in the United States for the first time this past fall after qualifying for the 2024 Challenger Series Championship in Las Vegas, he’s been proving that he belongs stateside.

Competing against, and as one of, the best bull riders in the world.

Coming into this weekend’s PBR Chicago showdown, which is set to invade the Windy City Jan. 10-11 for two nights of rank man vs. beast action, the Brazilian already has five conversions to his name despite attempting just nine bulls at the premier series level.

A 5-for-9 record on the season may not seem like the flashiest of records. But, generally speaking, riders are on the right side of the cut equation when they’re roughly knocking down half of their bulls. 

And when you consider the skilled cowboy pieced together said record over the course of his first three career UTB appearances, it seems damn decent.

Throw out his 0-for-2 effort in Albany, New York, and the Brazilian is 5-for-7 across just two regular season showcases, able to initially log a fifth-place result (going 2-for-3 overall) during his UTB debut in Manchester, New Hampshire, before following it up with a career-best No. 4 finish last weekend in New York City.

One of four cowboys to go 3-for-4 inside Madison Square Garden, the Brazilian nearly logged his first-ever podium finish, as he was just .25 points from tying Keyshawn Whitehorse for the third-place honors.

RELATED: Where to Watch: Chicago

Accepting a 78.25-pointer in Round 1 may have put him a bit behind the eight ball to kick off the weekend but as they say in other sporting circles, it’s rarely wise to take points off the board. 

Knowing that attempt was just his sixth premier series attempt to his name likely also played into the veteran’s decision to keep the score. Momentum is momentum after all. 

The determined cowboy progressively picked up his scores throughout the weekend, including an 82.75-point ride aboard Don’t Come Easy in Round 2 and an 86.25-point effort during his career-first short round conversion atop Sly en route to becoming the first rider on the board at 3-for-3.

Trailing No. 13 Hudson Bolton by a mere 42.5 points in the 2025 PBR Rookie of the Year race, he’s positioning himself to make a run for the first-year honors, which would represent the third-consecutive year that Brazilian riders have earned the award (with Cassio Dias winning it all in 2024 a year before Rafael Jose de Brito swept the podium in 2023). 

We can’t say that he’s 1:1 the next Cassio Dias or Jose Vitor Leme.

But we can confirm he’s already earned some support atop the chutes and in the locker room. And by the time the spring slate rolls around, there’s a good chance Correa is competing at the 2025 PBR World Finals.

Regardless, he’ll very likely be invited and later selected at the 2025 PBR Teams New Rider Draft, should he decided to take his skillet to the camaraderie-driven league. 

Set to dance with Hades during Friday night’s opening round, can the 24-year-old build on his encouraging start to what could become one hell of a career during the midwestern showcase?

This weekend’s PBR Chicago showcase in Chicago, Illinois, is set to begin Friday, Jan. 10 at 7:45 p.m. CT as the best bull riders in the world prepare to put on a show inside Allstate Arena.

Competition is set to conclude Saturday, Jan. 11 at 7:45 p.m. CT with Round 2, followed by the short go as riders look to put the finishing touches on their weekends throughout Championship Saturday. 

All three rounds of action in Chicago will be available LIVE and FREE on RidePass on Pluto TV, PBR’s YouTube channel, PBR’s mobile app, PBR’s app on connected TVs, including Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, and Google TV, as well as on your favorite web browser at watch.pbr.com. The stream for PBR Chicago begins on Friday, Jan. 10, at 8 p.m. CT.

Fans can keep an eye on PBR.com and @PBR social media channels for the latest news, scores, wrecks and more! 

Photo courtesy of James Phifer/Bull Stock Media