MANCHESTER, N.H. – To cap a thrilling Championship round that featured four lead changes, Dalton Kasel knocked down a huge 89.50-point ride to seal a walk-off win at the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast season-opener in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Inside a sold-out SNHU Arena, the world’s best bull riders stepped up in a big way. In the Championship Round, each of the five final riders – all 2-for-2 going into the short round – made the 8 for 88 points or better.

Kasel’s 89.50 points aboard UTZ BesTex Smokestack sealed the win for the Texan, who led the Unleash The Beast until the final day of the 2025 season. Kasel bested Magic Trick for 86.75 points on Friday before taking on Sweet Action to open Saturday with 85.35 points. Kasel is now 7-for-7 on BesTex Smokestack, the bull he danced with for the win.

“I am incredibly blessed; I love riding bulls," Kasel said, holding his championship buckle. "This isn't a job right now. This is something I truly love. Last year I let some event wins right at the beginning slip away. This year we'll try to do better and be more consistent."

Julio Cesar Marques finished runner-up just 0.90 points short of the buckle, also lasting eight seconds on all three outs this weekend, conquering Boot Barn’s Tyrone (85.90), Project X (85.25), and Lights Out (89.55). The Championship Round matchup against Lights Out was the event’s high score.

Rounding out the Top Five were Julio Cesar Marques, Kaiden Loud, Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, and Callum Miller – each going 3-for-3 on the weekend.

Kasel, who now sits atop the World Standings after one event, said: “Just gotta keep pushing. It's a long season. This is one of 18 [regular season] events, so we’ve got 17 more to go, so it's not over yet. So just keep going. And the Lord's kept me healthy and stuff, and so I'm just going to continue just doing what he designed me to do.”

While not finishing in the Top 12 to advance to the Championship Round, Lauro Nunes Vieira earned his first Unleash The Beast ride of his career on Fringe Minority as the duo combined for 82.05 points.

Also riding his first bull of his career in the UTB series was Damien Krushall, an 18-year-old Texan, on Old Testamentfor 84.45 points.

Magic Potion had another noteworthy out, besting Brady Fielder in the Championship Round. He now has 58 consecutive buck-offs – the all-time PBR record.

Next up for the PBR’s premier series is Chicago, Illinois, on Dec. 19–20 for Modo Casino PBR Chicago, starting at 7:45 p.m. CT on Friday and 6:45 p.m. CT on Saturday.