Florida Freedom defeat New York Mavericks 263-85.25 in final “Battle for the Belt” within the Monster Energy Team Challenge, presented by Camping World.
By Mandi McCary
TACOMA, Wash. – Austin Richardson (Dallas, Texas) had a vibrant crowd inside the Tacoma Dome at full volume as he won Round 1 of the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Tacoma Unleash The Beast (UTB) event with an 88.75-point ride aboard Bueno.
The two-day event at the Tacoma Dome marks the fourth consecutive season and 16th overall that the elite tour has visited Tacoma and the final UTB event of the 2025 regular season.
Richardson, who began the night at No. 16 in the UTB standings, moved up two spots to No. 14 after earning 28 UTB points.
The opening night of the weekend featured the third installment of the “Battle for the Belt” within the Monster Energy Team Challenge, presented by Camping World, an extension of the PBR Teams league that brings head-to-head, team-vs.-team bull riding games to the sport’s elite individual tour.
Despite the New York Mavericks’ hopes of reclaiming the belt after the Florida Freedom dominated the last matchup in Jacksonville, Florida, their hopes of a second win in the three-game special series were dashed as three Freedom riders tipped the scales to the Mavericks’ one qualified ride.
Florida clinched the win in the final rivalry matchup by 177.75 points, 263-85.25.
New York’s lone ride was courtesy of 21-year-old Leonardo Castro’s (Cassilandia, Brazil) 85.25-point pairing with Buckshot. Castro sits at No. 12 in the UTB standings.
Yan Victor Cunha (Assis, Brazil) got the energy flowing in the right direction for Florida as he conquered Puckered Up early in the game for 87 points. Originally paired with Sneaky Situation, Thiago Salgado (Navirai, Brazil) was awarded a re-ride by judges.
Dominating Hoka Hey to the tune of 88 points, Salgado landed in third place in Round 1, which he would later share with teammate and No. 3-ranked man in the world title race, John Crimber (Decatur, Texas), Arizona Ridge Rider Keyshawn Whitehorse (McCracken Spring, Texas) and two-time PBR World Champion Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil).
Crimber, who sat out last weekend in Nampa, Idaho, after fracturing his collarbone the weekend prior in Billings, Montana, was a man on a mission on Saturday night. After being jostled about, thrown to the dirt and stepped on by his original bovine partner, he took an optional re-ride when judges deemed it available.
Launching from the chutes aboard Peterbilt, Crimber showcased his usual flawless form for his matching 88-point ride and earned 15.5 UTB points.
His tough-as-nails determination puts Crimber 483 points behind world leader Dalton Kasel (Muleshoe, Texas).
With Tacoma being the final regular-season event before the 2025 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast on May 8-18 in Texas, competition on the first night was at an all-time high.
Hot on Richardson’s heels for the round win was world leader Kasel.
With his original matchup with Devine Dan being awarded a re-ride, Kasel, who rides for the Austin Gamblers in the separate PBR Teams league, stepped up to dance with Tijuana Two-Step with a stoic, focused look.
Bursting through the air with ease, the 26-year-old Texan netted second place on the leaderboard with a resounding 88.25 points as his signature smile spread across his face. The solid showing in Round 1 earned 18 UTB points and pushed his lead over world No. 2 Brady Fielder (Clermont, Queensland, Australia) to 195 points.
Hoping to gain ground on Kasel’s lead in the UTB standings, Fielder, who also received a re-ride, clung to Ah Hell, earning 10.5 UTB points for his 87-point ride. Heading into Sunday, the talented 25-year-old Texas Rattlers rider shares ninth place on the event leaderboard.
Seven-time PRCA world champion and Austin Gamblers man Sage Steele Kimzey (Strong City, Oklahoma) held tightly to the No. 4 spot in the world despite being bucked off of Blowhard at 7.71 seconds.
Veteran Arizona Ridge Rider and No. 5-ranked man Luciano De Castro, who was celebrating his birthday on Saturday night, was bested at 2.97 seconds by Crime Scene. He now sits 62.92 points behind Kimzey.
The exhilarating four-way tie and identical 88-point scores between Crimber, Whitehorse, Leme and Salgado earned all five men 15.5 UTB points in the gold buckle race.
Leme, who sat out for a season-altering nine events earlier in the season due to injury, returned at the top of the month in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, hitting the gas and making it known he was on the hunt to move up the standings.
Courtesy of his re-ride matchup with Wooderson, the Austin Gamblers man moved up one spot from No. 19 in the standings to No. 18 as Tacoma’s Round 1 concluded.
Whitehorse held strong at No. 11 after his matchup with Badlands.
Action for the PBR Tacoma will continue with Round 2 followed immediately by the championship round on Sunday, April 27, at 1:45 p.m. PT.
All three rounds of competition in Washington 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. The stream for the PBR Tacoma continues Sunday, April 27.
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.
