CALIFORNIA, HERE WE COME – The PBR Built Ford Tough Series stops in Fresno, California, this weekend for the third year in a row. The Fresno Invitational takes place at the Save Mart Center on Saturday, March 7, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 8, at 2 p.m. There have been 11 stops overall in the city of Fresno, including eight consecutive years from 2004-11.
ON DECK – A new addition to the BFTS schedule, South Dakota will be the PBR’s next stop on the tour. The Denny Sanford PREMIERE Center in Sioux Falls will host the First PREMIERE Bank PREMIERE Bankcard Invitational on Friday, March 13 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, March 14 at 7 p.m.
PAST FRESNO EVENT WINNERS – Last year, Cody Nance earned his second BFTS win of the season in Fresno covering all three of his bulls, including an 89.25-point effort atop Meat Hook (Jeff Robinson/Bar 3D Bucking Bulls) to win the Built Ford Tough Championship Round and push him past Markus Mariluch and Tanner Byrne who led the event heading into the final round.
2014 Cody Nance
2013 Silvano Alves
2011 Valdiron de Oliveira
2010 Renato Nunes
2009 Kody Lostroh
2008 Travis Briscoe
2007 Mike White
2006 Travis Briscoe
2005 Troy Dunn
2004 Owen Washburn
FORMAT – This weekend, the Top 35 bull riders on the BFTS will compete in Round 1 on Saturday and Round 2 on Sunday, facing one bull in each round. The riders with the Top 15 total scores after two rounds will advance to the Built Ford Tough Championship Round on Sunday for an additional ride and a chance at the $30,000 event title.
POSSIBLE POINTS – There are 700 possible points available in Fresno, as the winner of the event average will receive 400 points and each of the three round wins are worth 100 points apiece.
PROVIDING PROTECTION – The Dickies® Bullfighters this weekend are Jesse Byrne of Okotoks, Alberta; Shorty Gorham of Cotulla, Texas; and Frank Newsom of Paoli, Oklahoma.
TELEVISION BROADCAST – PBR LIVE via CarbonTV.com will broadcast the Fresno Invitational in real time at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 7 and at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 8. PBR LIVE is now available at no charge to all fans and media. Visit www.PBR.com/live to view.
CBS Sports Network will broadcast Round 2 and the Built Ford Tough Championship Round on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET. Veteran broadcaster Craig Hummer will provide the play-by-play, color commentary will be provided by J.W. Hart, while Leah Garcia will handle dirt-level interviews.
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE FRESNO GAME NOTES
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