LAUGHLIN, Nev. – With the first ride of the event, 2004 World Champion Mike Lee took the early lead in the Desert Showdown at the Laughlin Event Center Friday with an 86.5-point score on Flint. The story that captivated everyone’s attention, however, was the strategy of the top athletes in the race for the world title.
Joao Ricardo Vieira, Fabiano Vieira and Silvano Alves put up scores of 64 points, 51.25 points and 72.75 points, respectively, in Round 1. Instead of taking the re-rides offered to them – to potentially achieve a higher score – they opted to keep their certain points on the board.
With a 2-for-2 effort on Friday, including an 88.25 points on Fire & Smoke in the 15/15 Bucking Battle, Fabiano Vieira jumped into the top spot in the world standings for the first time since May.
Joao Ricardo Vieira fell to No. 2 in the world after bucking off Cooper Tires Semper Fi in the battle. Guilherme Marchi, meanwhile, went 0-for-2 to remain third in the standings. After bucking off in Round 1, Marchi battled reigning World Champion Bull Bushwacker for 4.83 seconds. Bushwacker, the $25,000 Bad Boy Mowers Bounty Bull, earned a bull score of 43 points for the effort.
Chase Outlaw won the 15/15 Bucking Battle with 89.5 points on South Paw, while Stone Sober was the high-marked bull on the day with a bull score of 46.5 points in bucking off L.J. Jenkins.
All of the action from the 15/15 Bucking Battle can be seen Saturday on CBS at 2 p.m. ET.
Round 2 and the Built Ford Tough Championship Round at the Desert Showdown will take place Saturday at 7 p.m. PT. The final rounds can be seen live on PBR LIVE at 10 p.m. ET at pbr.com/live, or on CBS Sport Network Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.
Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series
Desert Showdown presented by Cooper Tires
Laughlin, Nev.
Event Leaders (Round 1- Event Total Points)
1. Mike Lee, 86.5-86.50 points.
2. Lachlan Richardson, 86.25-86.25 points.
3. Kody Lostroh, 85.75-85.75 points.
(tie). Matt Triplett, 85.75-85.75 points.
5. Budd Williamson, 84-84.00 points.
(tie). Neil Holmes, 84-84.00 points.
7. Marco Eguchi, 83.25-83.25 points.
8. J.W. Harris, 83-83.00 points.
9. Tanner Byrne, 75.5-75.50 points.
10. Silvano Alves, 72.75-72.75 points.
11. Joao Ricardo Vieira, 64-64.00 points.
12. Fabiano Vieira, 51.25-51.25 points.
Billy Robinson, 0-0.00 points.
Brady Sims, 0-0.00 points.
Chase Outlaw, 0-0.00 points.
Claudio Crisostomo, 0-0.00 points.
Cody Nance, 0-0.00 points.
Cooper Davis, 0-0.00 points.
Douglas Duncan, 0-0.00 points.
Eduardo Aparecido, 0-0.00 points.
Emilio Resende, 0-0.00 points.
Gage Gay, 0-0.00 points.
Guilherme Marchi, 0-0.00 points.
J.B. Mauney, 0-0.00 points.
Jay Miller, 0-0.00 points.
Josh Birks, 0-0.00 points.
Josh Faircloth, 0-0.00 points.
L.J. Jenkins, 0-0.00 points.
Nathan Schaper, 0-0.00 points.
Renato Nunes, 0-0.00 points.
Ryan Dirteater, 0-0.00 points.
Stetson Lawrence, 0-0.00 points.
Stormy Wing, 0-0.00 points.
Valdiron de Oliveira, 0-0.00 points.
Zane Lambert, 0-0.00 points.
Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series
15/15 Bucking Battle
Laughlin, Nev.
Final Results (15/15- Total Points)
1. Chase Outlaw, 89.5-89.5 points.
2. Fabiano Vieira, 88.25-88.25 points.
3. Eduardo Aparecido, 86-86 points.
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