What to Watch For: Joao Ricardo Vieira inking PBR record books as the legend rides on
40-year-old veteran keeps knocking em’ down as his surge up the UTB standings continues.
By James Youness
FORT WORTH, Texas – Whenever the 40-year-old legend in Joao Ricardo Vieira climbs into the chutes, most of the audience and all of the riders make sure they’re paying attention.
It’s not every day that a cowboy enters the chutes and prepares to punch the clock north of the four-decade mark. Specifically, not very often at the premier series level, inviting only the world’s top-ranked competitors.
But he’s the definition of “What to Watch For” at this point in his storied career.
So, when one of the sport’s longest tenured and most successful riders prepared to attempt his 1,000th career out last weekend inside Allstate Arena, the dials were turned to 11, as a sold-out audience alongside everyone else in the building zoomed in on the veteran.
Naturally, he delivered, as he has for a solid thirteen years now.
Becoming the fifth rider in PBR history to attempt 1,000 premier series bulls, he wasn’t settling for a participation trophy as he accomplished the feat.
He went the distance and gave everyone a reason to celebrate.
“We always talk about how many bulls these guys ride … You get on a thousand bulls at this level – at UTB, PBR Teams, plus the injuries this guy has fought through … you’ve gotta give him a big hat tip right now,” stock contractor Cord McCoy shared via PBR’s LIVE YouTube feed.
Joining fellow greats in Mike Lee (1,181), Silvano Alves (1,175), Guilherme Marchi (1,174) and J.B. Mauney (1,086), he was officially in the 1K Club – and was off to a nice start on the weekend.
“This is so fantastic for me, you know,” Vieira offered to Kate Harrison Friday night via the RidePass on Pluto TV broadcast before flashing his patented smile.
“I never imagined this coming. I’m so happy for 1,000 rides and that I was able to ride my bull.”
Of course, he wouldn’t just settle for a conversion to close out his first 1,000.
The World Finals regular decided to start his next grand with a qualified ride on Saturday night, improving to 2-for-2 during his historic, PBR record book-stamping runway of a weekend.
While he wasn’t able to secure his first short round conversion of the year, he still managed a season-best sixth-place effort in the Windy City as the highest-scored cowboy to go 2-for-3 (combining his 86 points atop Sin City with his 87.25-pointer aboard Redwing in Round 2).
Having bested two bulls in two of his last three UTB appearances, earning a No. 7 finish in Albany, New York, a few weekends back paired with his No. 6 effort in Chicago, he’s trending in the right direction after a bit of a slow start to the season.
He managed one conversion in New York City, an 87.25-point journey, but it was only good for 21st in the four-round showdown.
Nonetheless, he’s bringing a four-event qualified ride streak into Friday’s opening round inside Toyota Center. At a glance, his 8-for-17 record proves he’s just one bull under batting .500 on the year – officially riding 47.06% of his bulls this season.
The fact that he entered the mid-week Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour’s Denver PBR Chute Out at the National Western Stock Show just a few days before setting sail for Houston proves the veteran isn’t slowing down for anybody.
And when you consider he took home a few UTB points for his 1-for-2 performance en route to advancing his overall event ride streak to six: which includes four UTB showcases and a pair of PWVT appearances), it reminds us the veteran remains committed to positioning himself for what would be his first gold buckle, should he be able to continue to pick up the pace and find himself within striking distance during the 2025 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Championship.
Anytime you’re within the company of guys like Lee, Mauney and company is typically a good sign. Of the all-time “outs attempted” list, Lee is the only man of the five who isn’t currently associated with a PBR Camping World Team Series squad. But, that could always change!
Of course, we know Vieira won it all with his Texas Rattlers during a weekend in which Vieira was crowned the 2023 PBR Teams Championship MVP as he led his squad to the promised land.
And while this weekend’s PBR Houston is very much an Unleash The Beast event, Vieira will be donning his Rattlers gear alongside five of his teammates as the Monster Energy Team Challenge (METC) prepares to embrace its third team-against-team, 6 vs. 6 showdown Friday night to close out the weekend’s opening round.
Knowing the 2023 Champs are set to battle it out against the Austin Gamblers during the most recent iteration of Texas Cup showdowns means Vieira has an extra reason to keep his successful stretch alive as he prepares to dance with Fast Flow in Round 1.
Entering the weekend ranked No. 24, can the veteran help secure some additional bragging rights over the Gamblers while getting his weekend started with a BANG?
This weekend’s PBR Houston showcase in Houston, Texas, is set to begin Friday, Jan. 17 at 7:45 p.m. CT as the best bull riders in the world prepare to put on a show inside Toyota Center.
Competition is set to conclude Saturday, Jan. 18 at 7:45 p.m. CT with Round 2, followed by the short go as riders look to make their time count down south one night before the Houston Texans prepare to take on the Kansas City Chiefs during the National Football League’s (NFL) Playoffs.
All three rounds of action in Houston 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 Houston begins on Friday, Jan. 17, 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!
