Nobles Nets $16K with XBulls Win
FORT WORTH, Texas – The first two seasons of Lane Nobles’ bull riding career have been struggles, to say the least.
But over Jan. 16-17, Nobles notched his first PRCA average victory, winning the SWELS – Xtreme Bulls competition at Fort Worth, Texas, and garnering more than $16,000.
The Gatesville, Texas, cowboy rode Tuesday night, but watched the second night of the event online because he had to get home to tend to cattle.
“My wife (Shelby) went to jumping up and down on the bed, I jumped up, I was pretty excited about it,” Nobles said. “My dad called me, he was all pumped up about it. It was a pretty uplifting feeling.”
They weren’t the only ones excited. Lane and Shelby’s 3-year-old son, River, had been running around the house dressed like Batman throughout the evening. So when he saw his parents excited, he only got more fired up.
“He’s been wound up the whole night,” Nobles laughed. “He thinks he’s a superhero. He’s been Batman-caping it up and watching cartoons. As soon as we were all pumped up, he got even more so.”
Nobles placed third in the first round Tuesday after scoring 88.5 points. He topped that by tying for first in the short-go, scoring 90.5 points on Hurst Pro Rodeo’s Cimmaron. His average score of 179 points on two head held off Trevor Kastner by two points. Kastner had tied Nobles in the short go on Hurst Pro Rodeo’s Yellow Hair.
Only two other riders covered two bulls. Nate Perry finished third Tuesday, and Joe Frost was the only one to do it Wednesday night, placing fourth.
“There were some pretty good bull riders,” Nobles said. “Watching there toward the end, I really wanted to win this – I like for all my friends to do well – but I wanted to pull it out in the end. … I was kind of cringing a little bit.”
Nobles won $16,129. Last season, he won $15,370 for the whole year. The winnings put him into the Top 10 in the PRCA World Standings as of Jan. 17.
“To come in now and start the year out like that sure does give you a boost of confidence,” he said.
Last year, at the Parker County Sheriff’s Posse Xtreme Bulls in Weatherford, Texas, June 6, he dislocated his elbow and tore in half the flexor tendon and the rest of the ligaments around the bone in his free arm.
That knocked him out of competition for a little over two months, he said. The swelling was so bad that an initial ultrasound couldn’t determine the extent of the injury. Eventually, he was advised to rehab rather than undergo surgery.
He dedicated himself to following doctor’s orders. He now has full range of motion in the arm. He put that on display Tuesday. He expected Cimmaron to go left out of the chute, but the bull went right.
“Man, there wasn’t anything going to top it, that bull rode really good, a lot of kick, leaping up in the air,” Nobles said. “I couldn’t even tell you how good it felt. It was a just a fit. It was smooth, there was no power to it, everything was in motion and all in sync.”
Since turning pro in 2016 (he won a little over $6,000 that year, suffering a dislocated shoulder in his riding arm), Nobles’ intentions were to rodeo full-time. But never has he gotten off to a start like this.
“It’s really big,” he said. “To get that much won and put in the bank where now I can go and really not look back. As long as you’re riding your bulls you’ll make some money and keep going. It’s important to me to get a good start. Now just finish it, stay consistent, ride my bulls, do my part and everything else will play out.”
Next up, Nobles will head right back to Fort Worth for the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show. From there he’s planning on hitting San Angelo, Texas, Lake Charles, La., and Belton, Texas.
While the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Polaris RANGER is still 11 months away, a win like Wednesday’s has Nobles thinking big.
“Last year, I was really trying to make a push to make the NFR, that’s what the goal is,” he said. “That’s our plan to make the NFR. That’s what we’re shooting for right now, especially getting Fort Worth under my belt. That’s a pretty good start.”
Courtesy of PRCA