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Clay Futrell Wins Team Roping Heeler Rookie of the Year

It was no contest on who would win the PRCA | Resistol Rookie of the Year for team roping heeling. Clay Futrell, 21, won nearly seven times as much as any of the other rookie heelers.

“It means a lot since the big goal was to make the NFR and my other main goal was this since it’s a once in a lifetime deal,” Futrell said.

Futrell spent the season roping alongside his cousin Cory Kidd V, a 10-year ProRodeo veteran who helped him learn the ropes.

“Oh, shoot, I learned a lot of things but I think one of the most important things is people don’t realize is that Waco (Texas), the first rodeo of the year, is just as important as Stephenville at the end of the year,” Futrell said.

With $34,502 next to his name at the end of the season, the Union Grove, N.C., cowboy was 24th in the 2020 PRCA | RAM World Standings, $12,643 shy of qualifying for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

“I knew I had a chance the whole time since I was roping with Cory,” Futrell said. “I was a little behind, like $5,000 or $6,000, when summer came, but I knew from the beginning I could do it.”

Futrell is proud of making a long haul in a short amount of time.

“One of the coolest ones was we left from a rodeo and had to get to Sydney, Iowa, and would have been pulling in when it started,” Futrell said. “It was seven hours out and I drove the whole thing without stopping. We filled the tank on the back of the truck and drove all night, I didn’t think I would be able to do it.”

The duo had only won $4,099 when the COVID-19 pandemic brought ProRodeo competition to a halt. Nearly all his rookie-season earnings came during the summer run, largely thanks to a $12,476 Cowboy Christmas haul. From there, things only got better for Futrell and Kidd.

“We were 3.8 (seconds) at Tremonton (Utah), and that was my first time being a 3 at a ProRodeo and I was pretty happy about it,” Futrell said about the Golden Spike Rodeo at the end of August. “But I also learned you’re running a steer everyday so you can’t let a run like that get you too confident since the next day something different could happen. You can’t ride the high, you need to stay humble to get better for sure.”

While the COVID-19 pandemic stifled his rookie season, Futrell wasn’t too upset about it.

“We went to all the good rodeos they had, so it didn’t bother me not going to Cheyenne (Wyo.) since I got to go do well at the ones we did go to,” Futrell said. “I’m excited for next year, it’ll be good to have all the rodeos in Oregon that canceled.”

Futrell and Kidd plan to compete together in 2021.

“I know I have what it takes to make the Finals, especially after winning that (Rookie of the Year) and coming close to qualifying this year,” Futrell said. “If I work hard at it, I’ll have a good chance next year.”

Courtesy of PRCA

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