By: James Youness
PUEBLO, Colo. – About 10 months ago, Kansas City Outlaws’ General Manager Jim Smith joined “PBR Now” and reiterated the idea that he and his organization were attempting to identify and attract guys with the “Outlaw Attitude.”
Guys with grit and toughness: The old-school way of bearing down and getting the job done.
Regardless of whether it’s riding bulls, taking care of the family or any of the other Western-forward activities riders find themselves involved with between travelling the country every weekend.
Smith wanted riders seeking success and glory, not necessarily the checks and fame.
But with two of his riders currently ranked within the Unleash The Beast’s Top 5 in No. 1 Cassio Dias and No. 3 Koltin Hevalow … well, the checks and hoopla might be coming along either way if his pair of standouts continue to dominate the premier series like they have throughout the first half.
Nearly a year later from said interview, he finds the team rostering five of Top 15-ranked riders participating in the individual season, as No. 10 Leonardo Castro, No. 12 Wingson Henrique da Silva and No. 15 Julio Cesar Marques join Dias and Hevalow in representing the Kansas City squad quite respectfully.
Sure, the squad already had the same five riders ranked in the Top 15 coming into the eleventh outing of the season. But, if anything, seeing all five of the cowboys remain ranked in the Top 15 during a year littered with plenty of talent and even more moves up and down the leaderboard proves just how consistent members from the orange and black contingent have been through the first half of the UTB schedule.
Seeing Hevalow (first), Kyler Oliver (fourth) and Marques (fifth-place tie) occupy three of the Top 5 spots during last weekend’s PBR Salt Lake City (not to mention Dias, the best in the world, turning in a ninth-place result), is it fair to say he’s established a bit of that gritty culture he was searching for?
Since witnessing Castro secure a career-first UTB win in Sacramento, California, and watching on as Silva earned the first premier series win in his own right the previous weekend in Houston, Texas, Hevalow became the third-consecutive member of the Outlaws to win big on bull riding’s biggest stage last weekend in Salt Lake City.
He also qualified as the fifth different rider who’s won their inaugural UTB event in 2024, joining Dias, Silva, Castro and Caden Bunch in celebrating big for the first time in their respective careers.
When you consider Dias has captured three event buckles in the first seven events of the 2024 slate and combine them with his teammates’ recent efforts, Kansas City riders have now captured a majority of premier series wins so far, now owning 6 of the 11 to date.
While Castro needed an epic 4-for-4 showcase in Sacramento to get the job done, Hevalow was able to sneak by with a discreet 2-for-3 event-winning effort.
Going the distance in Round 1, scored 85.5 points for his successful dance with Taz, the talented 20-year-old returned to Delta Center knowing it was his time to shine.
Later exiting a Round 2 showdown with Baldy in the winner’s column via his 85.25-point journey, he punched his ticket to the short round with one goal in mind.
Electing to enter a short round matchup with Chateau Montelena’s Montana Jacket, Hevalow had already secured the win but wasn’t going to surrender a chance to further his productive showcase. While it was the animal athlete who got the dub in Round 3, it was still the rider who left the arena with a hearty 106 UTB points and a winner’s check worth $43,055!
Now 12-for-28 (42.86%) on the season, will Hevalow be able to keep his successful start to the season alive in L.A.? Or will it be yet another member of the Kansas City Outlaws to make their way to the top?
With the premier series tour set to visit sunny Los Angeles, California, and Crypto.com Arena Feb. 16-17 during the 12th showdown of the 2024 slate, we’re taking a quick look back at some of the numerical takeaways from last weekend’s PBR Salk Lake City during this week’s By the Numbers!
.75: Coming up less than a point (.75 points) short of the weekend’s eventual winner, it was Alex Cerqueira who secured his second podium finish of 2024 via his runner-up effort in Salt Lake City. Initially finding success in the opening round, scored 83.25 points for his 8 seconds of work aboard Bouchon, he completed his 2-for-3 weekend in Round 2, going head-to-head against Bugatti for a sound 86.75 points. While he wasn’t able to complete the flawless feat, bested by DirtyBru in the championship go, he was still awarded 78.5 UTB points and a fancy check for $17,500 for his second-place finish. Up to the No. 14 overall rank on the season thanks to riding at least one bull in eight of his 11 UTB appearances (with 19th, 21th, 16th, 22nd, 18th, 3rd, 13th, 15th and second-place finishes to his name), it’s an encouraging sign to see the 30-year-old consistently getting the job done. But with both of his Top 3 finishes coming within the past five events, with four of the five including Top 15 results, the veteran rider may be heating up at the perfect time!
The Best 2 Date: Finishing just 1.25 points behind Cerqueira en route to earning his first Top 3 finish since storming onto the premier series scene last month, rookie standout Cort McFadden is officially 7-for-15 (46.67%) on the season after securing another spicy pair of conversions last weekend inside Delta Center. First going the distance aboard Desperado for 83 points, he advanced to a perfect 2-for-2 in the second round, this time gaining an 85.25-point score for his 8 seconds of work atop Pearl’s Ghost. Eventually seeing his flawless run come to an end, he would be forced to settle for the 2-for-3, third-place finish after Manaba got the win in the short round. Now with five UTB appearances to his name, the 19-year-old has found himself in the Top 12 in four of the five, with the tour’s stop in Houston, Texas, marking the lone event where the talented rider didn’t cover a bull. Able to convert on two bulls in three of the four events in which he’s placed, he ended up producing a welcomed fifth-place showing during his premier series debut in Chicago before following it up with 12th, sixth and third-place showcases. Finding himself at the No. 19 rank as the tour prepares to invade Cryto.com Arena this weekend, he’s one spot above his rookie “twin,” who’s enjoyed his fair share of first-year success as well.
3 out of 4 Top 5s: He might not be the newest face on tour anymore, but he remains the youngest and certainly one of the most explosive, as 18-year-old Clay Guiton has now secured three Top 5 finishes in his last four events. Having earned the No. 20 rank despite competing in just 5 premier series events in total, he’s actually managed to produce four consecutive Top 10 showcases since starting his UTB career 0-for-2 in Chicago earlier this winter, including fifth, third, ninth and most recently a fifth-place finish in Salt Lake City. Able to go the distance atop Blackstone for 88.25 points en route to improve his record to 7-for-15 (46.67%) on the season, identical to a fellow first-year standout mentioned just prior, he’s qualified for the short round in each of the contests in which he’s logged a qualified ride. With last weekend’s 1-for-3 showcase the first time he hasn’t rode two bulls since Chicago, he was still able to earn a few extra UTB points for tying a pair of cowboys for the Round 1 win inside Delta Center Friday.
Put on 4 My City: With the premier series rolling into Delta Center for the 11th event of the 2024 UTB season, it was great timing for a pair of riders who were not only making their return to Unleash The Beast action, but doing so in front of their home-state crowds, as Roy, Utah, native Kyler Oliver and McKracken Spring, Utah, resident Keyshawn Whitehorse put on a bit of a show for family and friends. While Oliver exited the showcase with his season-best fourth-place finish after spending the last 40 or so days competing within the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour (courtesy of a 2-for-3 weekend, including 83 and 80.75-point qualified rides), it was Whitehorse who tied Julio Cesar Marques and Clay Guiton for the Round 1 win. Turning in a flashy 88.25-point go during his opening round conversion, and first out back on UTB since Jan. 13, he teamed up with Lapua Friday night, which was good enough to garner him 32.66 UTB points. Ranked No. 39 (Oliver) and No. 40 (Whitehorse), respectively, heading into this weekend’s West Coast showdown in Los Angeles, they very much find themselves in cutline territory and will need another ride or two inside Crypto.com Arena if the pair wishes to continue their spicy return to premier series action.
Top 11 or N0thing: When No. 1 Cassio Dias showed up to his rookie season of premier series greatness, we don’t think even HE understood how dominant he could be throughout the first half of the UTB season. While the skilled 22-year-old only recorded one qualified ride in Salt Lake City, a quality 87-point go aboard Black Tie, the performance was still good enough to earn him his ninth Top 11 performance on the season, as he turned in a ninth-place result as one of six riders to parlay a one-ride showcase into a Top 10 finish. While Hevalow was able to skyrocket up to the No. 3 rank and inch within two spots of the Brazilian, Dias took home 22 UTB points of his own to extend his lead over Hevalow to 386.83 points (with No. 2 Austin Richardson expected to miss the duration of the premier series slate due to injury.) While it’s only a matter of time that Hevalow and the pack surpass Richardson, will Dias allow any of the world’s best riders catch up to his front-running status? After coming up just one ride score short of stealing the PBR Teams MVP honors from two-time award recipient Jose Vitor Leme, the safe bet would be on him not relinquishing such a well-established lead.
44.5: We’re not sure what’s rarer: the YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull scoring less than 45-point bull score or the score itself coming in a round other than the championship go? Nothing against DirtyBru, of course, who paced all animal athletes in Salt Lake City with an event-high 44.5-point mark. But after getting used to the Man Haters(45.18 average) and Flyin Wireds (45.08 average) of the world regularly bucking above the 45-point mark, both of whom are currently averaging just above the revered point, we’re used to seeing at least a couple of bulls get up there. Potentially just as weird of an occurrence and bull pen performance, the 44.5-point score was recorded in the event’s opening round. Representing just the second time in 11 events this season in which the top bull score was produced in Round 1, joining Devil’s Revenge (44.5 points), who produced an identical score during the season-opener in Tucson, Arizona, there’s nothing wrong with getting some epic buckoffs out of the way early! Forcing two-time World Champion Jose Vitor Leme to an early exit on Friday night in an instant 1.91 seconds, DirtyBru will look to advance on his No. 40 ranking by making the honors more of a regular occurrence!
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
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