PUEBLO, Colo. — The search for the next up-and-coming PBR star enters phase two this week as the 10 semifinalists in the BlueDEF Bucking Madness: Bull Rider Reality Series enter BlueDEF Bucking Madness Boot Camp presented by the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) today in Bowie, Texas.
For the next week these 10 men — seven chosen by PBR World Champions and legends and three selected by fan votes — will take tips from BlueDEF Built Ford Tough Series riders Matt Triplett, J.W. Harris, Nathan Schaper, Douglas Duncan and three-time and reigning PBR World Champion Silvano Alves, and show off their skills to a panel of judges that includes two-time PBR World Champion Justin McBride, PBR co-founder and livestock director Cody Lambert and PBR Event Manager Jerome Robinson. Their reward: becoming one of only five finalists from which two will win the opportunity to compete in the $100,000 PBR BlueDEF Finals taking place Oct. 9-10 in Louisville, Kentucky, at the KFC Yum! Center.
Braden Richardson (Jasper, Texas); Ricky Hallum (Norco, California); Cody Brewer (Cookeville, Tennessee); Dustin Ratchford (Wynnewood, Oklahoma), Jake Gowdy (Bristol, Oklahoma), Patrick Chee (Pinedale, New Mexico), Ryan Miller (Waterloo, Indiana), Travis Smith (Marshall, Missouri), Justin McCall (Hamilton, New Jersey), Danny Joe Fowler (Bakersfield, California) will have only four days to impress the world’s best in Bowie, home of Lambert.
“The stuff these men are going to learn over the next few days will hopefully help them for the rest of their bull riding careers,” Lambert said. “I am not sure if “boot camp” is the right term for what they’ll be going through. We’re not going to scream at them or see how many bulls the can ride in a day. It’s going to be more like a bull riding clinic designed to help them ride better. We (McBride and Robinson) are going to put out an extreme effort to pass on the knowledge that we’ve gained over the years.
“At the end of the day, we’re looking for the athletes who we feel have the best potential and the physical and mental capacity to ride bulls for a living.”
At the end of the week, the most impressive contestants will be named and move on to phase three, competing at the BlueDEF Velocity Tour event in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 19 at Quicken Loans Arena. The Top 2 finishers in Cleveland will ride alongside the PBR’s best up-and-comers on the BlueDEF Velocity Tour and the stars of the elite Built Ford Tough Series at the BlueDEF Finals. Tickets for the BlueDEF Finals are on sale now and start at $15. They can be purchased at ticketmaster.com or by calling 800 745 3000.
This journey from the Top 10 selection through Boot Camp to Cleveland and ultimately Louisville, will be captured in a one-hour special to air on CBS Sports Network the weekend before the PBR 2015 Built Ford Tough World Finals.
Bucking Madness is also sending a pair of lucky fans to Las Vegas to watch the Top 40 bull riders in the world compete for the $1 million 2015 PBR World Championship title at the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals taking place at the Thomas & Mack Center on Oct. 21-25. Enter at www.buckingmadness.com for a chance to win airfare, hotel accommodations and tickets for two (2) to the five-day event.
This October will be the 22nd time the World Finals takes place in Las Vegas where the best bull riders in the sport and the best bulls will be showcased. With a $1 million bonus on the line for the season’s prevailing bull rider and a $50,000 check for the season’s best bovine athlete, the competition will be tight, the battles fierce and the non-stop action unprecedented. Tickets are available now and can be ordered at www.unlvtickets.com or by calling 1-866-PBR-SHOW (866-727-7469).
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