Challenger Series Roundup: Swearingen Continues Strong Start with Win in Belport, Whitehorse Victorious in Binford
By: Darci Miller
PUEBLO, Colo. – Daylon Swearingen won the 2022 PBR World Championship and the PBR World Finals event title in May, and he hasn’t taken his foot off the gas pedal since then.
In his very next event, the Dakota Community Bank & Trust PBR Team Series Preseason Event, Swearingen went 2-for-3 to help his Carolina Cowboys to a 2-0 record and second-place finish in the event.
The following week, at PBR Canada’s Regina PBR Classic, Swearingen went 2-for-2, including an 89.5-point ride on two-time reigning PBR Canada Bull of the Year Happy Camper, to earn the event win.
This past weekend, Swearingen made his first appearance on the Challenger Series. At the Sky Dancer PBR in Belcourt, North Dakota, he double-entered and went a combined 4-for-4 to not just win the event, but take third place as well.
Swearingen’s winning effort came thanks to an 85-point effort aboard Trump Train in Round 1 and an 89.5-point ride on Jungle Can Do in the championship round.
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He took third place with 84 points on Dennis Owens in Round 1 and 86 points on Handsome Jack in the championship round. Of three total rides in the championship round, Swearingen had two of them.
The Missouri Thunder’s Andrew Alvidrez (2-for-2) finished in second place, while Swearingen’s Cowboys teammate Mason Taylor (1-for-2) placed fourth and Caden Bunch of the Oklahoma Freedom (1-for-2) placed fifth.
Swearingen earned 44 points combined toward the Challenger Series standings, where he’s now ranked No. 3 with 54 points total. No. 1 Rafael Jose de Brito of the Texas Rattlers has 70.5 points.
Meanwhile, about two and a half hours south in Binford, North Dakota, 2018 PBR Rookie of the Year Keyshawn Whitehorse rode supreme at the Binford PBR Challenger Series event.
In Round 1, Whitehorse rode Sky Dancer for 87 points. He followed that up with a 90.5-point ride on Jungle Can Do in the championship round to take his first Challenger Series event win.
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Each of the Top 5 in Binford went 2-for-2 in a hotly contested event. Whitehorse (177.5 points total) was followed closely by Casey Roberts (176.5), Paulo Ferreira Lima (171), three-time PBR World Champion Silvano Alves (170.5) and Wingson Henrique da Silva (160.5).
Whitehorse earned 15 points towards the Challenger Series standings, where he’s in a five-way tie for the No. 21 rank.
NEXT UP
The Challenger Series has another busy weekend coming up, with four events across three states.
On June 29-July 2, Stamford, Texas, hosts the Texas Cowboy Reunion. On July 1-2, the Allegros Marinade PBR in Paris, presented by Chris Dowdy of Mossy Oak Properties, hits Paris, Tennessee, while Carolina Cowboys’ Head Coach Jerome Davis hosts the 23rd Annual Boot Barn Jerome Davis PBR Invitational in Archdale, North Carolina.
The residency at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, continues as well with PBR Sunday at Cowtown on July 3. Catch all the action from Cowtown on RidePass on Pluto TV at 3 p.m. ET.
Courtesy of PRCA