By the Numbers: Clay Guiton parlays 4-for-4 effort into career-first win in Sioux Falls
Becoming the 14th different rider to win big in 2025, tour parity couldn’t be any more lively.
By James Youness
FORT WORTH, Texas – Of the four round wins featured during last weekend’s PREMIER Bankcard PBR Sioux Falls presented by Cooper Tires, sophomore standout Clay Guiton didn’t claim any of them.
Those honors belonged to Daylon Swearingen, John Crimber, Brady Fielder and Dalton Kasel in respective fashion as the circuit shared the love throughout the Week 20 showcase.
However, as the only man to record a qualified ride in each of said sessions, the 19-year-old exited Denny Sanford PREMIER Center with a career-first event title and one HELL of a smile!
Becoming the fourteenth different rider to win an Unleash The Beast event during the 2025 campaign, it’s clear Guiton and the rest of this year’s cowboys won’t be backing down from some additional drama that continues to be baked into this year’s gold buckle race.
Honestly, they won’t have any choice if they hope to put on a show during the 2025 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast, set to begin overtaking Fort Worth, Texas, May 8-11.
Surging up to the No. 10 rank after collecting a welcome 155 UTB points and $44,290 in prize winnings, Guiton is now just 590 points behind No. 1 Kasel, meaning anybody in the Top 10 is essentially within striking distance with just three regular season showdowns remaining.
While the likes of Kasel, Fielder and friends would eventually provide some late-event theatrics, Guiton got his work done early and often.
Knocking out matchups with I Hate You (87 points) and Mouse Trap (87.75 points) during the opening two rounds, the Cherryville, North Carolina, native may have been using some extra motivation to his advantage after being traded to his home state Carolina Cowboys Friday morning.
Originally selected No. 2 overall by the Oklahoma Wildcatters during the 2024 PBR Teams New Rider Draft, his former franchise has to be reconsidering the swap after seeing the talent remind the bull riding world just how great he is and can be.
Returning to punch the clock on Championship Sunday, Guiton originally prepared for a Round 3 dance with Coach Cliff. However, after the intended bovine athlete drew some red flags to the dirt, the red-headed menace learned he would get another shot, this time aboard a familiar friend in Tijuana Two-Step, who he bested the month prior in Little Rock, Arkansas.
As the stars continued to align, he survived the requisite 8 atop his animal athlete opponent while positioning himself with the No. 1 overall pick during the afternoon’s short round bull draft.
Which only led him to yet another rematch, as Guiton opted into a showdown with Eyes On Me, a bull who’s been tied to some quality short round success the past month or two.
The duo may have only garnered an 87-point score – But when you’re the only man to escape each of the weekend’s four opportunities with points on the board, you’re going to be happy with that score. MORE than happy, as the dance eventually clinched the youngster his career-first honors.
“I just had to trust in the Lord’s plan for me,” Guiton shared with Kate Harrison via the PBR’s YouTube livestream.
“That’s what I went back to – I started the season of kind of rough. I had to realize it was all in his time and that I had to trust him with everything and I’m glad to be here.”
Executing a rare dual rider post-event interview, it was only right Harrison had the No. 4-ranked Crimber join Guiton on the dirt. They’re a bit of a joint package, these days, after all.
“This means a lot to us. We grew up together, winning and stuff and battling against each other when we were junior riders, so to see us do so good at the highest level we can be, it means the world to me,” Crimber shared with a laugh alongside his good friend.
“Ole Funky Fresh had to get it done.”
As the stream’s Play-by-Play lead Craig Hummer quickly detailed, Crimber had to shout out his buddy’s nickname – one that hasn’t quite grown on Guiton just yet – but one that continues to produce laughs like these two continue to produce rank rides.
Guiton’s big win shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, as the kid turned in an encouraging fourth-place finish the weekend prior in Albuquerque, New Mexico, now 6-for-8 over the course of his last two appearances.
Up to a 23-for-50 (46%) slate on the season, he’s logged five Top 10 finishes this season, but it was Sunday’s win which he’s ultimately been chasing. With that out of the way, what can fans expect this weekend when the tour invades Billings, Montana? They’ll have to tune in LIVE and FREE to find out!
Back to take a look at some of the rankest rides and craziest occurrences from the weekend, By the Numbers returns to break down Guiton’s career-first win, Man Hater’s continued excellence and tons of other outlying numerals from last weekend’s showcase in Sioux Falls, South Dakota!
19 & Climbing: Between his rookie UTB season and a whirlwind of a start to his sophomore campaign, John Crimber has been living in the limelight since turning 18. And while some of the beginner’s luck looked to have been wearing off the past month or two as the youngster “struggled” a bit compared to the near-perfect version of the cowboy we got off the rip, Crimber stepped back up the plate in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, earning his first Top 5 finish since late February, as one of just five men to produce 3-for-4 slates last weekend.
Beginning the weekend ranked No. 4, he surpassed Sage Steele Kimzey by the time Sunday’s slate rolled to a close, besting In My Blood (89.5 points), Mike’s Motive (88.5 points) and Lights Out (88 points) on his way to a fourth-place finish. Earning 88.5 UTB points for his Top 5 effort, he’s now recorded Top 10 finishes in three of his last four appearances as he continues to gear up for a push during next month’s 2025 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast.
Battle 4 Top Dawg: In case you haven’t noticed, we have QUITE the race at the top of this year’s world title race. Sure, guys anywhere from No. 20 up may still mathematically have a shot to win it all inside AT&T Stadium May 17-18, but it seems destined the last few days of competition will be centered around No. 1 Dalton Kasel and No. 2 Brady Fielder, two of the four men who captured round wins last weekend inside Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. The Australian in Fielder scored a quality 89 points during the third round while dancing with Buffalo Heifer to win the Round 3 honors. And for as gracious as said trip was, his 91.5-pointer atop Nobody was that much ranker!
Fielder would eventually exit the Week 20 showdown with a quality 109.5 UTB points courtesy of yet another podium placement, this time slotting into the third position. But with Kasel able to sneak into the runner-up spot courtesy of his own 3-for-4 showing, Fielder remains 48.5 points back from the tour’s top dawg heading into Billings. Kasel, who collected his 12th round of the win the season, yet somehow only his second short round victory, was forced to decline a re-ride opportunity on Saturday night after getting banged up. Otherwise, he very well could’ve been joining Guiton in the four-ride column. Matched up with the defending YETI World Champion Bull in Man Hater during his final opportunity of the four-round contest, it was only right Kasel went head-to-head with bull No. 1.
No. 1 x No. 1: Stock contractor Gene Owen, generally speaking, enjoys being atop the chutes when the 8-second clock is counting. But as soon as the buzzer sounded and the crowd exploded, the elderly talent made his way down to the dirt to congratulate Kasel, as it isn’t often the sport’s two biggest entities are afforded such an opportunity, let alone such an epic result.
Man Hater has been doing his thing for the past two seasons now. But his efforts have generally produced more buckoffs than fairytale endings. This would serve as one of the exceptions, obviously, as the duo exited the performance with an epic 93.5-point mark. Trailing only Andrew Alvidrez, who bested the bovine for a tour-best 94 points in early March, the 8-second dance was easily one of the most electric duels we’ve seen in a while.
Magic Potion No. 49: Man Hater brought the noise once again – But it was a bull by the name of Magic Potion which continues to stamp the PBR record books. Officially tying the legendary Cool Whip for the longest buckoff streak of all-time at 48-straight, he launched the New York Mavericks’ Hudson Bolton to the dirt in a mere 1.99 seconds during Sunday’s exclusive go. And while his record-tying out may have been against a premier series rookie, the bovine hasn’t minded rider status in each of his other 47-consecutive matchups. The animal athlete likely won’t mind who he’s matched up with during his next out, either, as he looks to claim the outright record.
90.5-0: After capturing the first two games of the best-of-three Monster Energy Team Challenge, presented by Camping World, the Nashville Stampede found themselves on the wrong side of the finale Friday night, dropping a 90.5-0 decision to the Carolina Cowboys. Fresh off trading for Clay Guiton, who didn’t compete in the 6 vs. 6 landscape but managed an opening night conversion nonetheless, the Jerome Davis-coached squad squeaked out their first and only win of the UTB season courtesy of some heroics provided by 2022 World Champion Daylon Swearingen.
Going the distance, and then some, aboard Lari’s Speck, the recently-mustached man completed the walk-off heroics courtesy of a much-needed conversion. Entering the event ranked No. 29 in the Unleash The Beast standings, the American cowboy very much celebrated alongside his teammates, as he recorded the highest-marked ride of his season. Somehow the former Champ’s first 90 of the 2025 campaign, he saved his team from suffering what would’ve been quite an embarrassing three-game series overall, as the Cowboys had only managed a handful of rides across their 18 combined attempts in the unique format. Swearingen used the early effort to fuel a sixth-place finish, thus improving to the No. 25 spot. With the Top 15-ranked riders automatically qualifying for the 2025 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Championship stage, the Piffard, New York, native has a little more work to do if he wants to avoid competing in the Ride For Redemption stages May 14-15.
