What to Watch For: Can No. 25 Daylon Swearingen stay hot down the home stretch?
After producing his first 90-pointer in two years, the 2022 World Champion is heating up.
By James Youness
FORT WORTH, Texas – You know him as the 2022 PBR World Champion.
You’ve seen him lead his Carolina Cowboys of the PBR Camping World Team Series all the way to the 2024 PBR Teams Championship Game itself as one of the squad’s coveted aces.
But when it comes to 2025 – he’s been in the limelight for a different reason.
He’s doing his best Super Mario impression, sporting one hell of a mustache lately.
He might not be rescuing princesses from castles – or switching his career to become a plumber.
But Daylon Swearingen sure is stirring up the waters here down the home stretch.
Which is no disrespect to the portfolio he continues to craft.
He hasn’t been on fire, per se, this season. But if he can keep heating up ahead of the 2025 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Eliminations segment, set to take over the historic Cowtown Coliseum May 8-11, he’s still got an outside chance to claim what would be his second gold buckle.
After winning it all in 2022, the Monster Energy-sponsored athlete turned in a No. 72 finish in 2023 while dealing with a nasty injury sustained inside Madison Square Garden, which eventually ended his UTB season. However, 2024 would be a different story. A narrative much closer to the world-title contending version of the Piffard, New York, native that we’ve come to know and love.
Ending the season ranked No. 15, he wasn’t quite going pound-for-pound with the likes of Cassio Dias, John Crimber and company. But the idea he mustered his way back to AT&T Stadium despite dealing with some ups and downs both on the dirt and within his personal life had to have made the rebound feel like a small win, all things considered.
Fast forward through a successful, albeit a bit of a tease, 5-on-5 campaign last summer and it’s clear the American cowboy is here to ride.
Most recently earning a sixth-place finish last weekend in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the 25-year-old talent got his weekend started on a high note by winning the opening round of the PREMIER Bankcard PBR Sioux Falls.
All while powering his Carolina Cowboys to their first Monster Energy Team Challenge, presented by Camping World, win of the season!
Scored an eventual round-winning 90.5-point mark dancing with Lari’s Speck to the buzzer, Swearingen captured his second round win of the season. And when we consider his first session-topping effort came just two weekends prior when the tour visited Palm Desert, California, it seems Swearingen could actually be one of the guys “getting hot at the right time.”
Of course, there are several ways guys can get into their respective grooves. The Carolina Cowboys’ standout chose to turn the heat up by producing his first 90-pointer of the season, which doubled as his first rank ride within any competition level in nearly two years, with his most recent eye-popping strike coming north of the border in May of 2023.
Thirteen different riders bested at least two animal athletes inside Denny Sanford PREMIER Center the last time the tour assembled. Five produced 3-for-4 efforts. Of the eight riders who turned in 2-for-4 efforts, Swearingen topped the list when it came to aggregate score.
But we’d be hard-pressed to believe he was satisfied with the close call.
Up to the No. 25 rank ahead of the approaching Week 21 showcase, he’s 14-for-37 on the season.
And with his sixth-place finish in Sioux Falls tying his season-best finish achieved during the campaign-opener in Tucson, Arizona, it’s been good to see him stay healthy for the most part.
Having drawn into just 14 contests on the season after missing the December run, he’s managed to ride at least one bull in 10 instances. Within those 10 successful showings, he’s finished No. 17 or better in each, including eight Top 15 placements.
Set to dance with Beef Cake Friday night, will the 2022 World Champion continue to climb the Unleash The Beast standings as he looks to solidify a spot at the 2025 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast?
This weekend’s Cooper Tires PBR Billings in Billings, Montana, is set to begin Friday, April 11 at 7:45 p.m. MT as the best bull riders in the world prepare to battle within First Interstate Arena at MetraPark.
The action will conclude Saturday, April 12 at 6:45 p.m. MT with the second round, followed by the short go, as riders look to capture crucial late-season UTB points in the race for the 2025 PBR World Championship.
All three rounds of action in Billings will be available LIVE and FREE via 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 Billings begins Friday, April 11 at 8 p.m. MT.
Fans can keep an eye on PBR.com and @PBR social media channels for the latest news, scores, wrecks and more!
