By the Numbers: Final Five Spots Claimed for This Weekend’s 2023 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast

By: James Youness

PUEBLO, Colo. – In just a few days, the most talented bull riders and bovine athletes in the world will gather in Fort Worth, Texas, for eight rounds of absolute mayhem as the 2023 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast prepares to invade Dickies Arena May 12-21.

After seeing some elite action during this past weekend’s Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals, presented by Coastal Bend Chevy Dealers, in Corpus Christi, Texas, with now tour champion Josh Frost capturing the season-long honors and Joao Lucas Campos earning the prestigious event title win during his first stateside appearance, the duo joins 2022 PBR Champion Nick Tetz, Claudio Montanha Jr., and Dawson Branton in earning the final five spots in this weekend’s year-end showcase.

 
With Frost earning the bid via his championship effort and Campos getting the green light via his event victory down south, Montanha and Branton were granted the opportunity by finishing the PWVT campaign ranked second and third, respectively, as the Top 3 finishers form the expansion series earn berths each year.

Tetz (Canada), who was directly competing against Cassio Dias (Brazil), Francisco Garcia Torres (Mexico) and Sam Woodall (Australia) for the international invite, was the lone rider of the four able to piece together two qualified rides, eventually earning a third-place finish and 128 Velocity Global points and invite to big dance.

While there’s always a possibility of injuries and various availability concerns for riders heading into World Finals, the pack of 40 cowboys set to compete is officially set.

Featuring the likes of No. 1 Kaique Pacheco, two-time World Champion Jose Vitor Leme and Mr. 90 Points (Dalton Kasel), fans will enjoy the talents of this year’s Top 3 after seeing the latter two cowboys return from injury in Louisville, Kentucky, during the regular season finale.

This year’s roster includes tons of familiar faces, including fan favorites in Cooper Davis, Boudreaux Campbell, Keyshawn Whitehorse and beyond.

But, for the first time since 2019, and only time in the youngster’s career, 2022 PBR World Champion Daylon Swearingen will be forced to sit this one out after going 0-for-2 last weekend during a last-ditch effort in qualifying at the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals.

Seeing his Round 2 matchup against Bad Actor end in an absolutely heart-stomping 7.99 seconds, the defending champion will look to collect his health and prepare for the 2023 PBR Team Series season, which is set to execute its second-ever draft May 17 in Fort Worth during World Finals.

With his Carolina Cowboys team slated to make the first overall selection after finalizing a trade with the Nashville Stampede, he’s not letting his injury-ridden campaign get in the way of a successful summer run, or having a bad attitude about the whole thing.

“I’m super excited to get back going with the Cowboys. I look forward to seeing who we select with the No. 1 draft pick this year, it’ll be exciting,” Swearingen shared.
“I feel like we have a good team, great leadership on the team between Austin Dillon (Carolina’s general manager) and Jerome (Davis, Carolina’s coach), and I’m really looking forward to it.”

While we’re going to throw it back to some of the biggest numerical outliers from the past five months in this edition of By the Numbers, Swearingen, and the entire UTB pack, will be best served by looking to the future while concentrating on the now.

As the 2023 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast Finals are set to invade Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena May 12-14, PBR.com is taking a look at some of the statistical stories and takeaways from last weekend’s PWVT finale in Corpus Christi and throughout the 2023 Unleash The Beast season:

1-for-1 in the 50: Joao Lucas Campos managed an impressive 2-for-3, event-winning effort inside American Bank Center in what was his first time competing in the United States. Going 2-for-3 overall, it was an 87.5-point ride aboard Homegrown in the second round, paired with an 88-point qualified ride in the short go aboard White Face, which earned the Brazilian native the win during his inaugural stateside competition. He’s now 1 of 11 riders who will make their debut during the eight-round showdown, despite it being just his second event outside of his home country, while also serving as overall his premier series debut. While his successful stint down south last weekend was his first event, and corresponding event win in America, it was the fourth title of his campaign, as the talented 24-year-old has been dominant in PBR Brazil competition alongside Cassio Dias, who also competed during last week’s action in Corpus Christi.

47, but 2.75 Short: Ednei Caminhas nearly captured the PWVT Finals event title last weekend, which would’ve punched his ticket to World Finals, but came up just 2.75 points short in the aggregate score, earning a silver finish to the red-hot Campos. After setting the record last year as the oldest athlete to compete at the premier series finale, at 46, he was still able to produce a fruitful showcase in the expansion series finisher. Going 2-for-3 inside American Bank Center, he began the two-day showcase by besting Big Kiwi for 85.75 points in the opening round, followed by a triumphant finish paired against Feeling Dangerous in Round 2, which was good for an 87-point mark. Looking into the magic 8 ball, will this be the last we see of Caminhas?

 
2019: After seeing 2022 World Champion Daylon Swearingen go 0-for-2 this past weekend at the PWVT Finals, including an insanely-close 7.99-second buckoff time facing off against Bad Actor, which was reviewed and confirmed by PBR judges, the Unleash The Beast World Finals event will be without its defending champion for the first time since 2019, when Kaique Pacheco was forced to miss the season-culminating event due to injuries sustained earlier in the season. Producing a 26-for-60 (43.33%) record last season en route to capturing his first gold buckle, Swearingen managed just a 1-for-10 (10%) campaign in 2023 before getting banged up and missing a majority of the season.

74: No. 1 in the UTB standings, Kaique Pacheco brings a mere 74-point lead into this weekend’s showcase, which isn’t a mystery. Going 30-for-62 (48.39%) throughout the season, which includes the most qualified rides of the tour and second-best ride percentage among UTB regulars, it’s how he will respond from suffering a lower-body injury April 23 that remains up in the air. Riding eight bulls in five days is due to get you banged up, though, as the Brazilian faced off with three during the tour’s midweek stop in Everett, Washington, and then another five (including three against the elite bovines of the short round) a few days later in Tacoma, Washington. When he was on, he was hot, as the Brazilian logged the highest-scored ride of the year, converting against Ricky Vaughn for 93 points in Indianapolis.

The score also served as Pacheco’s third-best ever, with a pair of 94-point rides continuing to mark his top marks, courtesy of rides aboard SweetPro’s Bruiser and Chiseled.

Mr. 90 Points: Bringing 748.66 UTB points and his No. 3 ranking into World Finals, Dalton Kasel is looking to earn his first gold buckle in Fort Worth after leading the pack with the most 90-point rides. Technically meeting the mark six times in the last six months, his first of the year came at the PWVT’s season-opening event, as the Muleshoe, Texas, native logged a 91-point effort aboard Crossover at the Ouncie Mitchell Memorial en route to the starting the year with an event victory. With his highest-scored ride of the year, and fifth-best mark of his career, Kasel managed an epic 92-point ride atop Tulsa Time at the PBR ZipRecruiter Invitational, presented by Ariat 15/15 Bucking Battle. Exiting events in both Los Angeles and Little Rock, Arkansas, with event titles, courtesy of respective high-end efforts matched against WSM’s Time In A Bottle (90 points) and UTZ BesTex Smokestack, he nearly logged a pair of 90s in the same event in L.A., with a close 89.75 points atop Kid Knapper in the opening round still helping to fuel his favorable finish. With a 90.5-point date with UTZ BesTex Legend and 90-point triumph over Raven representing his other instances, he’s not only a favorite to meet the mark at the UTB finale, but a frontrunner to win the whole thing.

2,233: Out of a combined 2,233 premier series attempts during the 2023 season, UTB riders were able to best their animal athletes in just 665 instances (29.78%). After seeing the bovines beat up on the collective pack throughout the season, including an impressive three-week streak of surrendering zero short round rides, only to allow a handful in the next few events, 2023 has been all about the bull power. Seeing 74 different riders record at least one ride during their time on the premier series, 31 of the top 35-ranked riders recorded at least 10 qualified rides, while only eight were able to meet or surpass the 20-ride mark. Pacheco (30), No. 5 Dener Barbosa (24), Leme (23), No. 6 Andrew Alvidrez (23) did the heaviest lifting as the only four to meet the 23-ride mark, with No. 4 Cooper Davis (22), No. 7 Boudreaux Campbell (22), No. 8 Eduardo Aparecido (22) and Dalton Kasel representing the crew to surpass 20 rides on the year.

With the 2023 Unleash The Beast regular season slate of action officially in the books, the world’s best bull riders will head south to Fort Worth for Weekend One of the World Finals, May 12-14. Sessions will begin at 7:30 p.m. CST both Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12, with the opening slate scheduled to conclude on Sunday, May 13 starting at 1:45 p.m. CST.

A variety of PBR-based programming from Weekend One will be broadcast on CBS, CBS Sports Network and RidePass on Pluto TV, with the most updated schedule living here.

Fans can stay tuned to PBR.com and PBR social media channels throughout the weekend for the latest scores, updates, wrecks and beyond as the 2023 Unleash The Beast season begins sprints to the finish line!

Photo courtesy of Andre Silva/Bull Stock Media

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