After Starting the Season ‘Stale,’ Kasel Back to Having Fun and Going 90
By: Darci Miller
PUEBLO, Colo. – The Dalton Kasel that began the 2024 season was not the Dalton Kasel PBR fans are accustomed to.
While he recorded rides in all but one of five events in November and December, he didn’t break the Top 10 at any of them, rode only one bull per weekend, and didn’t record a single 90-point ride.
It’s out of character for the guy dubbed Mr. 90 Points.
However, since the calendar flipped to 2024, Kasel looks like he’s back to his old self.
At the Monster Energy Buck Off at The Garden, presented by Ariat, in New York City to kick off the new year, Kasel went 3-for-4 for a second-place overall finish.
Last weekend, at the Express Ranches PBR Tulsa, presented by Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, he went 2-for-3 to finish fourth. Even better, those two rides were his first 90-pointers of the season.
“I just think that this is how I ride, and I think that every other time when I’m not like this, it’s a cold streak,” Kasel said. “I’ve just been extremely blessed with the way everything’s been going. But it’s not easy not doing as good, riding one bull a weekend and stuff, and I’ve really had to just trust that the lord has a process.”
Kasel says there was no particular reason for his cold streak to start the season.
“That’s kind of how it is. That’s how bull riding is,” he said. “I think I was carrying on some of it from the Teams deal, and so I think that’s just part of it. Bull riding’s not always easy, and it’s not easy especially when you’re not doing good. Just keep going, stay diligent, and don’t give up.”
In Tulsa, Kasel was bucked off by Uncle Jim in an agonizing 7.47 seconds in Round 1. But he bounced back in Round 2 with 91.75 points on Doze You Down.
After his ride, he told CBS Sports Network’s Kate Harrison that he hadn’t been hustling the way he should’ve been.
“I think, with that, it’s more being aggressive,” he said. “I think I was kind of just going through the motions, and I wasn’t necessarily enjoying being there. I was just going through the motions with everything, and I know that I’m a good bull rider, so I expected that I’d just nod my head and it’d just come easy and I’ll get the results, instead of actually having to try and put forth the effort that I needed to to make it successful.”
Lately, the most significant changes he’s made to get himself out of his funk have been strengthening his relationship with God and – in his own words – “living better and being a better person.”
A rising tide, as they say, lifts all ships.
“I think that’s the main thing, is just trusting that it’s going to be okay,” Kasel said. “Even if it doesn’t look like it’s going to be at the time, it will be.”
Something finally clicked for him, and he’s gotten back to having fun and doing what he knows how to do.
Which, of course, is ride bulls for 90 points.
“Very relieving,” Kasel said with a laugh of his first 90 of the season. “I didn’t think I could be over 86 points, 87 points, so it was very relieving knowing that I still am able to do that. And I knew I was able to, but I know that I had just gotten stale, just going through the motions. So doing that, being 90 and stuff, that definitely helps propel confidence and strengthens everything.”
Kasel’s momentum continued in the championship round in Tulsa, where he tied for second thanks to his 91.5-point ride on YETI World Champion Bull contender UTZ BesTex Smokestack.
“It was hard to tell (that the score would be so high),” Kasel said. “I felt so in the zone that it felt easy to me, so it felt easier than some of my 86- and 87-point rides I’ve had during the year. And that’s when I know that things have been turned around and are going right, whenever it’s that easy once again, and I’m able to be 90 and it’s easy.”
Incredibly, there were seven total 90-point rides in that championship round, making it the greatest championship round in PBR history.
“It was pretty neat,” Kasel said. “You could just tell the vibe on the back of the chutes was something that I hadn’t experienced before, personally. It was just positive, and nobody was thinking they were outmatched one way or another. Whenever you got your next couple of rides, then everybody was like, ‘Holy snap. We have to do our jobs.’ I think I was sitting fourth or fifth going into the short round, and by the time it was my turn, I was eighth or ninth. That’s just how amazing that night was and how insane of a bull riding. You’ve got to credit Riley Gagnon for the bulls he brings to set it up for us to be able to do that.”
Kasel is next in action this weekend at the Kubota PBR Houston, presented by Michelob ULTRA, in Houston on Jan. 26-27. Action begins with Round 1 on Jan. 26 at 8:45 p.m. ET on RidePass on Pluto TV. Kasel will take on Rowdy (4-1, all levels).
Now 25 years old, Kasel has the benefit of age and parenthood on his side. The 2019 Rookie of the Year is one of the locker room veterans welcoming the youngsters into the fold.
While working on himself, he’s also working on the culture around him and stepping into a leadership role.
“I know how much it meant to me whenever guys that I looked up to, after I made a ride, when they would compliment me,” Kasel said. “So I’ve tried to put myself where, if one of the younger kids makes a good ride, I try to fill them up. Even when they haven’t done as well as they’d liked, trying to just keep them motivated and know that it happens to everybody, so just not to get down and just keep going. So I’ve been trying to be a motivator in the locker room, and know that we’re all human, we mess up, and we have a next time.”
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
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