Number One Ranked Bull Rider Arrives in Cheyenne for an Unprecedented Third CBR World Title attempt #1 Sage Steele Kimzey

#1 Sage Steele Kimzey

Balancing a twelve month rodeo schedule and his third year as the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association Bull Riding World Champion, Sage Steele Kimzey lived up to his billing this season as the number one bull rider in Championship Bull Riding…and the World.

Riding in thirteen events, the five time World Champion NEVER failed to advance to the Semifinal round this season and eight times he would ride into the Shoot Out Round where three times he walked out of the arena with Tuff Hedeman as the event Champion.

“Fundamentally he does everything correct, not many riders can ride them away from their hand as well as Sage and that is why he is in the position he is in. He doesn’t enter to win second or third, he comes to win…every time,” said four time World Champion and CBR Chute Boss, Tuff Hedeman.

Kimzey earned the top ranking during the regular season of CBR competition with 2,385 points, $89,512.50, and an 80% riding percentage from the 2017 CBR Road to Cheyenne professional bull riding tour. If he is able to bay fellow overachiever and the #2 man in the bull riding consistency charts, Eli Vastbinder, he will accomplish what no other bull rider has done in the fifteen year history of Championship Bull Riding – win three World Champion titles.

The twenty-two year old native of Strong City, Oklahoma, now residing in Texas, rode 28 of the 35 bulls he attempted on the Road to Cheyenne tour and was two for two in Horizon Series performances.

Missing the season opener in Huron, Kimzey wasted no time catching up and winning his first tour stop in a perfect three of three perf at the Navajo Nation CBR in Window Rock, Arizona last September. He would stay out west juggling rodeo performances and CBR and continue his ride streak thru Laughlin. Riding three for three in Laughlin he did not win the title but the valuable scores were launching his bid for an unprecedented third CBR title.

In October Kimzey would ride both his draws in Conroe, but in a highly competitive event, his scores did not advance him to the final round, but not tears from Kimzey behind the chutes, he knew the end of that first 60 days on tour he was 8 for 8 which put him at the top of the CBR World Standings, the only place on the Road to Cheyenne he is comfortable.

He would hit the only “rough patch” noticeable during the 2016-17 tour in Mercedes where he went 0 for 2 bucking off two bulls from Ray Cattle Company, 296 Casino and 414 Neon Nights.

Using his consistency in CBR competition and probably somewhere in his mind not forgetting the two buck offs, Kimzey would move on to his third PRCA World title in Las Vegas by riding six for ten at the National Finals Rodeo to claim gold buckle number three, a milestone on his way to achieving his self-proclaimed goal of striking Don Gay’s 8-time World Champion bull riding record.

We would see Kimzey win his second event title in January in Enid, Oklahoma where he thrilled a hometown crowd riding three for the win.

Kimzey continued his march thru January picking up six more bull scores in Jackson, Rio Rancho and Hobbs, but on February 4, fans saw a champ dig deep to compete in front of a packed house of diehard bull riding fans at the CenturyLink Center in Bossier City, Louisiana. Suffering from what he described as the worse flu he has ever endured, the champ arrived in Louisiana barely able to talk. Sweating and vomiting profusely between rounds the champ rode two of three only to lose the Shoot Out battle with his CBR season rival, 1086 Big Lew.

Two weeks later where the Sage Kimzey story began three years ago, a much healthier Kimzey got his third event win off the back of what was becoming his arch rival, 1086 Big Lew (D4/Brown Ranch) as he won his second favorite CBR tour stop – El Paso.

“El Paso is special to me, I have great memories from right here in this building. I won my first CBR here in 2014 and got my first 90 point score here at the rodeo in this building. The fans here are awesome and they love watching bull riding…you can’t beat the atmosphere, they are knowledgeable about the sport, from the introductions to the last rider they are as loud as you can ask for and it’s always fun to come here,” said Kimzey.

Pausing CBR action in late February to win the PBR’s American competition in Arlington, which came with a $433,333.33 pay check, Kimzey silenced the bull riding experts, critics and commentators on February 18 when announced he was selecting to remain in PRCA and CBR competition with the goal of staying healthy and thus extending his earning potential and longevity as an athlete in the sport of bull riding.

“To me, I just really love radioing. I love the lifestyle. I love the people,” said Kimzey.

With eleven scores padding his world standings, Kimzey missed Lufkin which was just a few days the American competition but he would ride two of three in Las Vegas in early March. He missed Salina, but returned to Fort Worth and Del Rio to finish the regular season standings with five more scores. Kimzey is the 2014 and 2016 CBR World Champion riding a perfect five for five at the 2016 CBR World Finals at Cheyenne Frontier Days. That perfect performance included a 93 point Shoot Out win on CBR bucking bull of the year 2079 Cowtown Cartel, owned by Scott Burleson and William Barnett.

Last week Kimzey won the Calgary Stampede, a PBR sanctioned event which earned him an additional $100,000 setting up the month of July to potentially be the highest earning month of his four year professional bull riding career. Clocking in already at over two million dollars in total bull riding earnings, Kimzey never looses site of the day to day challenge of the 8 second competition.

“You have to ride them each, beginning to end every time – there are no short cuts in bull riding,” said Kimzey after one of this three wins on the Road to Cheyenne.

Editor’s notes: PRCA World Champion Matt Austin won two CBR World Titles in 2005 and 2006. Besides Kimzey, he is the only bull rider in the CBR history to win multiple CBR World Champion titles. Other winners and CBR statistics located in the Media Guide on www.cbrbull.com.

Courtesy of CBR