Dalton Kasel lands in PBR history books after third consecutive win at Wrangler PBR Greater Palm Springs, rocketing to No. 1 in world
Kasel becomes the fourth rider in PBR history to win three events in a row and is now 42.5 points ahead of No. 2 Brady Fielder.
By Mandi McCary
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – Dalton Kasel (Muleshoe, Texas) delivered a perfect 4-for-4 performance on Sunday afternoon inside Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, California, to win his third consecutive PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast event at the Wrangler PBR Greater Palm Springs.
Kasel rocketed from No. 2 to No. 1 in the heated race for the 2025 PBR World Championship.
Kasel, who entered the three-day Palm Springs event 88 points behind former No. 1 Brady Fielder (Clermont, Queensland, Australia), is now 42.5 points ahead of Fielder, who had an uncharacteristic weekend, going 1-for-3 and being shut out from competing in the championship round.
With five regular-season events remaining before the PBR World Finals in Texas on May 8-18, world No. 3 Sage Steele Kimzey (Strong City, Oklahoma), who went 3-for-4 in Palm Springs, narrowed the gap to just 208.7 points behind Fielder’s No. 2 spot.
World No. 4 John Crimber (Decatur, Texas) went 1-for-3 on the weekend and missed the championship round. Crimber sits 102.75 points behind Kimzey headed into the PBR Albuquerque Ty Murray Invitational next week.
Collecting his fourth elite series win this season, Kasel, who competes for the Austin Gamblers in the separate PBR Teams league, also joins the history books alongside legends J.B. Mauney, Chris Shivers and Jose Vitor Leme as the only riders with three consecutive event wins in one season.
“I am absolutely blessed, and so grateful and humble,” said Kasel as the dust settled in the arena. “This is something I have always dreamed of. I have been really close to a world title but never had that dream come true. So, we are just working toward that every day.”
After conquering Black Harbor on Friday night for 86.25 points, Kasel continued the momentum on Saturday with an 86-point ride aboard Big Tasty.
Paired with Fatal Attraction for Sunday’s opening round, the lanky 26-year-old remained in full control for 85 points.
Taking the lead in the short round by riding Shot in the Dark for 87 points to vault above Andrew Alvidrez (Seminole, Texas) on the leaderboard, Kasel faced being knocked into second in the final moments if Cort McFadden (Novice, Texas) could secure a qualified ride on his re-ride bull. With Pay Dirt tossing the Oklahoma Wildcatters rider to the ground at 6.06 seconds, Kasel clinched the win.
In addition to a check for $38,262.50, Kasel earned 146.5 Unleash The Beast points.
The only other man to go 4-for-4 over the weekend in Palm Springs was 28-year-old Alvidrez.
After an 85-point score Friday night on Cracky Chan, the Missouri Thunder athlete became a man on a mission on Saturday in his matchup with Pay Dirt.
Alvidrez was one of 21 riders in a 36-man field to record a qualified ride on Saturday night. His standout 88.5-point ride won Round 2 and put him in the No. 3 spot on the event leaderboard heading into Sunday’s final rounds.
Starting Sunday aboard Hank The Tank, the Missouri Thunder man netted a less-than-ideal 60 points before heading into his final out of the weekend.
Selecting Ghost Face as his final opponent in hopes of his second UTB win of the 2025 season, Alvidrez recorded a massive 91.25-point score, which topped the weekend. Despite claiming first place in the round, he wasn’t able to cling to the event lead for long.
With the second-place finish, Alvidrez earned 130 UTB points and moved to No. 5 in the world.
Kasel’s Austin Gamblers teammate Kimzey finished the weekend in third place overall after going 3-for-4.
Sharing the Round 3 win with McFadden earlier in the day complemented Kimzey’s Round 1 Top-5 finish and championship round 88.25-point, third-place finish. He earned 94.5 UTB points and held strong at No. 3 in the UTB standings.
McFadden ended the weekend as the No. 7 man in the world standings after going 3-for-4 to finish fourth.
The only athlete to successfully ride for the Oklahoma Wildcatters in Friday’s Monster Energy Team Challenge, presented by Camping World, McFadden gritted out his matchup on Saturday to land at No. 2 on the event leaderboard as Sunday began.
Matched with Snoop Dog in Round 3, McFadden recorded an 87.25-point score. Climbing aboard Pay Dirt in the championship round didn’t go his way, as the muscular bovine dispatched him after 6.06 seconds.
McFadden earned 73 UTB points on the weekend.
Rounding out the Top 5 of the Wrangler PBR Greater Palm Springs event was New York Mavericks man Leonardo Castro (Cassilandia, Brazil).
Despite a rocky start to the weekend, bucking off Quick Show on Friday night, Castro recovered on Saturday with an 86.25-point ride aboard Clash.
After Castro earned his path into the final round courtesy of an 86.5-point ride aboard Mouse Trap in Round 3, all eyes were on the talented 21-year-old Brazilian as he prepared to face the formidable bovine Umm.
Launching through the air in perfect form, Castro clung to the massive animal, barely making the whistle for an 88.75-point ride.
Castro went 3-for-4 on the weekend, earning 65.5 UTB points for a fifth-place finish, which pushed him from No. 20 to No. 17.
In the bull pen, Cadet was unrivaled, anointed the YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the Event. Bucking in Round 2, the talented animal athlete was awarded a stellar 45-point bull score for his 3.3-second buckoff of Fielder.
The PBR Unleash The Beast next travels to The Pit for the PBR Albuquerque Ty Murray Invitational on Friday, March 28, at 7:45 p.m. MT, Saturday, March 29, at 6:45 p.m. MT, and Sunday, March 30, at 1:45 p.m. MT. The end of Round 1 in Albuquerque will also feature the twelfth game of the 2025 Monster Energy Team Challenge, presented by Camping World, as the Texas Rattlers take on the Austin Gamblers.
All four rounds of competition in Palm Springs 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.
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.
