ARLINGTON, Texas ― Dubbed the “Baddest Body in Sports” by ESPN The Magazine, Bushwacker, the Professional Bull Riders’ reigning two-time World Champion Bull, currently leads the PBR’s bovine athletes and therefore has been named the $1 million bonus bull for the Iron Cowboy V.
On March 1, in Arlington, Texas, at AT&T Stadium, the winner of the Iron Cowboy V will have an opportunity to attempt to last 8 seconds aboard Bushwacker for $1 million.
Bushwacker bucked for the first time this season during the PBR’s 15/15 Bucking Battle in Oklahoma City on Saturday, Jan. 25, and went against reigning World Champion J.B. Mauney. He made quick work of Mauney, sending him overboard in 3.48 seconds for a bull score of 46.75 points.
Mauney has attempted to ride Bushwacker 12 times in his career and was successful only once, on his ninth attempt in Tulsa, Okla., on Aug. 17, 2013. He received a score of 95.25 points and ended Bushwacker’s consecutive buckoff streak of 42 straight BFTS riders, a PBR record. He bucked off a total of 56 consecutive riders overall in his career.
Ten cowboys attempted to ride Bushwacker in 2013, including Shane Proctor, Luke Snyder, Mike Lee, Austin Meier, Billy Robinson, Ben Jones,Valdiron de Oliveira, Chase Outlaw, Douglas Duncan, and Eduardo Aparecido. Mauney was the only successful one.
Bushwacker bucks off Eduardo Aparecido in 4.57 seconds, earning a bull score of 47 points in the championship round of the 2013 Built Ford Tough World Finals in Las Vegas.
Meier, the reigning Iron Cowboy champion and two-time reserve champion, faced Bushwacker in the final bracket pairing of Iron Cowboy IV last year for the event title. Meier could only last 2.67 seconds on the 1,700-pound mass of writhing muscle, but, because of the uniqueness of the Iron Cowboy competition, it was just long enough to win the event. Had a full 8 seconds been required, he admits he never would have made it.
March 1 in Arlington will be the last time Texas fans will be able to see Bushwacker in action. At the PBR’s Oklahoma City event on Jan. 23, the PBR announced that he will take one last lap on the BFTS this season before retiring to California at his owner Julio Moreno’s ranch.
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The Iron Cowboy V is the most distinctive event on the 2014 Built Ford Tough Series. It will feature 24 of the BFTS’s elite bull riders competing head-to-head for a total purse of $150,000. During this one-night-only competition, the riders will be randomly drawn into brackets, with the rider who achieves the highest score or longest ride time in each matchup advancing to the next level. The matchups will continue until one cowboy prevails and is declared the “Iron Cowboy.”
This is the fifth consecutive year that the PBR has visited AT&T Stadium for the Iron Cowboy, which will start at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 1. Tickets are on sale ranging in price from $20 to $150. They can be purchased at the AT&T Stadium Box Office, all Ticketmaster locations, ticketmaster.com or by calling (800)745-3000. Ticket prices include a pre-event concert beginning at 6 p.m. by country star Justin Moore.
Arlington is the ninth stop of 27 on the 2014 PBR Built Ford Tough Series schedule, and one of only 18 cities to host the series before the PBR takes its summer break in May. The season will conclude at the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals in Las Vegas on Oct. 22-26. The 2014 PBR World Champion, the bull rider who amasses the most points during the 2014 season, will receive the coveted World Championship belt buckle and a $1 million bonus while in Vegas. For more information, please visitwww.pbr.com.
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