Clay Guiton Goes a Perfect 3-for-3 to Win Career-First PBR Event at Velocity Tour Stop in Lexington, Kentucky
By: Kacie Albert
LEXINGTON, Ky. – When the dust settled in Lexington, Kentucky, for the 2024 season-launch PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour event, no rider was more dominant than Clay Guiton (Cherryville, North Carolina). Going a perfect 3-for-3, the 18-year-old sensation reached a career milestone, winning his career-first Velocity Tour event, victorious at PBR Lexington.
Guiton jumped to an early event lead when he won Round 1 courtesy of an 86-point ride atop Cotton Mouth (LH Cattle Co./2T Cattle Co.).
He then remained perfect in the Bluegrass State in the second round when he conquered Major Nelson (Hurst Pro Rodeo) for 85 points.
In the championship round, Guiton took on Repo (Cash Money Bucking Bulls). In what proved to be a perfect pairing, the young North Carolinian matched the powerful bovine athlete jump-for-jump en route to the requisite 8, marked 86 points to cement his first event win.
Compliments of the golden finish, Guiton garnered an early 140.5 Velocity Global points.
Second was Marco Rizzo (Quitman, Georgia), earning 96 Velocity Global points.
After a second-place effort in Round 1, covering Lever Action (Jenkins Cattle Co.) for 85.5 points, Rizzo stumble in Round 2, tossed by White Thunder (Dana White/DD Bucking Bulls) in a swift 2.26 seconds.
Rizzo, however, was quick to rebound, concluding his outing inside Rupp Arena by winning the championship round as he went the distance on Captain Sparrow (Halpain Bucking Bulls #2) for 87.5 points.
Third was Leandro Machado (Nova Esperanca, Brazil).
Machado’s 84.5-point ride on Thunder (Barrett/Barnes PRCA Rodeo) in Round 1 and 87-point score aboard Mr. Wilson (Richardson Land & Cattle Co.) in the championship round earned him 71 Velocity Global points.
Cody McCandless (Derry, Pennsylvania) went a perfect 2-for-2 on Championship Saturday to finish fourth.
McCandless began the event in disappointing form, bucked off by Little n’ Loud (Obernagel/Sho-Me Rodeo) in 3.38 seconds.
Returning with newfound confidence on the event’s final day, McCandless first converted in Round 2 when he reached the whistle on Thunder for 85 points.
The Pennsylvanian then concluded the event with his second consecutive qualified ride when he bested Kaboom (Jenkins Cattle Co.) for 82.5 points in the championship round.
He left Kentucky having earned 52.5 Unleash The Beast points.
Rounding out the Top 5 in fifth was Marco Eguchi (Poa, Brazil).
Eguchi was in prime form through the opening two rounds of competition as he rode Playboy Dreams (Blue Ridge Bucking Bulls/Triple T) for 82 points in Round 1 and Nautical Nightmare (Halpain Bucking Bulls #2) for 84 points in Round 2.
The veteran Brazilian, however, fell short of the win in the final round when he was upended by Riser (Barrett/Barnes PRCA Rodeo) in a swift 3.28 seconds.
The 2-for-3 showing earned Eguchi 44 Velocity Global points.
In the bull pen, God Bless America (Sterk Bucking Bulls) and Polar Express (Sterk Bucking Bulls) bucked supreme, tying for the Bull of the Event honor after delivering matching 44-point scores.
Both bucking in Round 1 of PBR Lexington, God Bless America earned the score for his 1.32 seconds of work against Gabriel Morais (Sao Francisco de Sales, Brazil), while Polar Express posted the top marks for his 3.5-second buckoff of Rubens Barbosa (Iaciara, Brazil)
The 2024 PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour season continues January 8-10 in Denver, Colorado, for the Denver PBR Chute Out at the National Western Stock Show.
PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour
PBR Lexington
Rupp Arena – Lexington, Kentucky Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3- Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Clay Guiton, 86-85-86-257.00-140.5 Points.
2. Marco Rizzo, 85.5-0-87.5-173.00-96 Points.
3. Leandro Machado, 84.5-0-87-171.50-71 Points.
4. Cody McCandless, 0-85-82.5-167.50-52.5 Points.
5. Marco Eguchi, 82-84-0-166.00-44 Points.
6. Tyler Manor, 80-84.5-0-164.50-38 Points.
7. Eric Henrique Domingos, 0-87-0-87.00-34 Points.
8. Hunter Ball, 0-86.5-0-86.50-23 Points.
9. Zane Cook, 0-85-0-85.00-18.5 Points.
(tie). Ederson Santos, 0-85-0-85.00-18.5 Points.
11. Claudio Montanha Jr., 0-84-0-84.00-12.5 Points.
12. Garrett Jones, 0-83.5-0-83.50-10 Points.
13. Michael Lane, 0-82.5-0-82.50-9 Points.
14. Brandon Ballard, 82-0-0-82.00-15.5 Points.
15. Jason Landing, 81-0-0-81.00-14 Points.
Grayson Cole, 0-0-0-0.00
Carlos Garcia, 0-0-0-0.00
Dakota Warnken, 0-0-0-0.00
Brandon Chambers, 0-0-0-0.00
Lane Lasley, 0-0-0-0.00
Manoelito de Souza Junior, 0-0-0-0.00
Justin Ethridge, 0-0-0-0.00
Ramon de Lima, 0-0-0-0.00
Dustin Herman, 0-0-0-0.00
Matt Allgood, 0-0-0-0.00
Leonardo Lima, 0-0-0-0.00
Marcelo Procopio Pereira, 0-0-0-0.00
Bryan Titman, 0-0-0-0.00
Rubens Barbosa, 0-0-0-0.00
Weston Davidson, 0-0-0-0.00
Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00
João Paulo Fernandes, 0-0-0-0.00
Seth White, 0-0-0-0.00
Gabriel Morais, 0-0-0-0.00
Jake Maher, 0-0-0-0.00
Michael Phillips, 0-0-0-0.00
Chad Hartman, 0-0-0-0.00
Leandro Zampollo, 0-0-0-0.00
Jean Fernandes Pereira, 0-0-0-0.00
Eduardo Matos, 0-0-0-0.00
Photo courtesy of Andre Silva/Bull Stock Media
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