By The Numbers: Pacheco Back on Top of the World Standings

By: Justin Felisko

PUEBLO, Colo. – The 2021 World Championship race continues to be shades of gold upon gold at the top of the world standings.

2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco regained the world No. 1 ranking this past weekend in Jacksonville, Florida, with a 2-for-3 performance at the Bad Boy Mowers Invitational, presented by Union Home Mortgage.

It is the sixth lead change following an Unleash The Beast event weekend this season – there were seven total in 2020 – and the third swap of the No. 1 ranking this year among three past World Champions – Pacheco, 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis and defending World Champion Jose Vitor Leme.

World Champions have held the No. 1 ranking since January 31.

 
Davis took over the top ranking at the end of January with a second-place finish in Okeechobee, Florida, and would hold the No. 1 spot for five consecutive events.

Pacheco surpassed Davis when he won the PBR Lucas Oil Invitational in Louisville, Kentucky, on March 28. He would stay there for three more weeks before Leme took over with his second-place finish in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 2.

Now Pacheco is back on top with the Unleash The Beast on break until the PBR Las Vegas Invitational on June 11-12.

Pacheco leads No. 2 Leme by 16 points in the world standings and No. 3 Davis by 180.5 points.

Here are some other noteworthy statistics from this weekend’s competition in Jacksonville

89.16: Pacheco has ridden six of his last seven bulls and would have a consecutive ride streak of seven in a row if not for his slap aboard Chinese Cigar Sunday. However, what is impressive is that not only is Pacheco on fire reaching the 8-second mark, but the 26-year-old is averaging 89.16 points per ride during that stretch.

75: Pacheco has outgained No. 2 Leme by 75 world points in the past month. Leme has an event win, a 15/15 win and two second-place finishes since April 23. Pacheco has one event win, a second-place, fourth-place and 12th place finish. Pacheco also has a second-place finish in a 15/15 Bucking Battle.

7: Leme went 0-for-2 in Jacksonville after accepting a re-ride following a 72.75-point ride on Heartbreak Kid. It is the first premier series weekend Leme has gone 0-for-2 in seven months. He last failed to record a qualified ride at an event (excluding this year’s season-opener when he broke his ankle on his first bull of the season) last October in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

283.5: Cooper Davis has now won back-to-back UTB events following his victory in Jacksonville and has ridden seven consecutive bulls on the UTB for an average score of 87.57 points. He has earned 283.5 points toward the world standings to get 80 points closer to the world No. 1 ranking and is now only 180.5 points behind world leader Pacheco.

 
5: It has been almost five years since Davis last won consecutive events on the premier series. In 2016, he won the Music City Knockout (PBR Major in Nashville) and Tulsa in August to propel himself to an eventual World Championship.

6: Davis’s event-winning ride of 91.75 points on Mike’s Motive was his sixth 90-point ride of 2021, tying a career-high. Davis also posted six 90s on the premier series in 2019 and 2017.

2: Jesse Petri became the second rookie this season to win a round on the UTB when he won the first round of his career Sunday by riding Hard Shot for 88.75 points in Round 2. Chase Dougherty leads all rookies with three round wins. Petri gained 81 world points with his 2-for-3, third-place finish to move to No. 3 in the Rookie of the Year race. Petri is now 173.17 points behind ROY leader Colten Fritzlan.

45.5: Detroit Lean was the high-marked bull in Jacksonville with a 45.5-point bull score for his 2.1-second buckoff of Mauricio Moreira in the championship round. The score is Detroit Lean’s best since opening the season with a 45.5-point score when he broke Jess Lockwood’s jaw in Ocala.

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media

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