Outlaw Heads to Cassville Riding in Memory of Lowe
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – Later this year, Chase Outlaw will try to process the emotional rollercoaster that 2019 has been.
From losing his close friend Mason Lowe to a bull riding accident on Jan. 15 to winning Lowe’s namesake event in St. Louis a month later, Outlaw has continued to be a beacon of strength amidst a season of tremendous sorrow.
When the arena lights come on and he climbs into the bucking chute, Outlaw has done his best to channel his emotions as he continues to pursue his first World Championship.
That will once again be the case on Saturday night at the first inaugural Ridin’ with Mason Lowe Invitational, presented by Heald Pro Bulls and Motiv8 Sports Group, at the Bill Hailey Arena in Cassville, Missouri.
Lowe, an Exeter, Missouri native, passed away on because of injuries sustained during a PBR event at the Denver Coliseum.
Proceeds from the Touring Pro Division event this weekend will be donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
In 2015, Lowe made a 3-hour drive following the Music City Knockout in Nashville, Tennessee, to be with his then 6-year-old niece, Blazi, who was scheduled to undergo multiple surgeries to remove a brain tumor the next day, in Memphis at St. Jude’s.
Lowe’s heart was always on full display whenever he was around his niece, and it was through her bouts with cancer that he became interested in volunteering at children’s hospitals or other functions.
“He would do the same for us, and the proceeds are going to help that cause (he cared about),” Outlaw said in Columbus, Ohio, two weeks ago.
The Unleash The Beast resumes next weekend on May 17 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with the Ty Murray Invitational, presented by Isleta Resort & Casino, at The Pit.
Outlaw admits he has not taken much time to reflect on the emotional toll of the season, let alone this past year, when you factor in his own wreck at Cheyenne Frontier Days last July that sent him into 12 hours of emergency facial reconstructive surgery.
“There isn’t time to do that yet,” Outlaw said. “I will try to do that come Nov. 11. Until then, I am just trying to keep on going.”
The 2019 PBR World Finals concludes on Nov. 10 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
It is there that Outlaw plans to leave with the illustrious PBR World Championship and $1 million.
The 26-year-old spent two weeks as the No. 1 bull rider in the world standings in late March, and he heads into Cassville only 214.16 points behind world leader Jose Vitor Leme.
The Hamburg, Arkansas, native leads the PBR in qualified rides (24) and riding percentage (51.1%), and is on pace to smash his previous career high of 33 qualified rides that he set back in 2017.
Outlaw finished 2017 ranked a career-best No. 6 in the world standings.
In 2016, he rode at a 52.38% clip in seven events.
Outlaw has won two events this year, including the Mason Lowe Memorial in St. Louis.
“It still don’t even seem real,” Outlaw said on the dirt in St. Louis. “It doesn’t feel like we should be at one of my best friends’, one of our brothers’, memorials.
He later continued, “It has been difficult. There have been a lot of sleepless nights. Your mind is a very powerful thing. I can’t say that the sights of what I had seen that play through my head in my mind, when you are about to get on the back of a bull (are easy), but you have to be able to overcome and overpower them thoughts.
“You let that subside and just block that out. You tell yourself to overcome it and improvise, adapt and overcome.”
Also tentatively riding in Cassville are No. 14 Cannon Cravens, No. 18 Alisson de Souza, No. 27 Danilo Carlos Sobrinho, No. 32 Scottie Knapp and 2016 PBR Brazil champion Dener Barbosa.
Outlaw could cut Leme’s lead to 154.16 points with a victory in Cassville.
“I am just thinking about riding right now,” Outlaw said. “You still have to ride your bull.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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