Davis Will be Ready to ‘Hang on a little bit tighter’ when the PBR World Finals Gets Underway in Arlington, Texas
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis hopped in his truck Monday night and began to make the eight-hour drive south to Rio Grande City, Texas, for a much-needed hunting trip.
Davis has been busy alongside his wife, Kaitlyn, as they opened their wedding/events center – Reign Hills – this past summer amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic. The 26-year-old also made a return to competition this summer after missing the entire first half because of a broken neck sustained at the season-opener in New York City.
“It is pretty dang nice,” Davis said Tuesday from the Texas-Mexico border. “We have been pretty busy with everything at home with the venue. It is nice for deer season to kick off and get away for a minute and not think about riding a bull.”
Davis is coming off his best performance of the season after his 92.25-point ride on Hocus Pocus notched him his first premier series win of 2020, and his first since October 12, 2019 in Greensboro, North Carolina. He began his weekend in Lincoln, Nebraska, Saturday by winning Round 1 with 89 points on Cold Chill before riding Wicked Hou for 88.25 points to head into the championship round in first place on Sunday.
“It felt good. Heck, I have had a lot of problems in the short round here lately,” Davis said. “I know if I get started off right, I can normally finish alright, too. It kind of sucks to fall off the first one and know you are already one behind. I started off good this weekend and I got on a little roll. I felt really good.”
The 2015 World Finals event winner is 10-for-21 on the premier series since returning from his broken neck, and he is looking more and more like a bona fide contender to win the 2020 PBR World Finals event title when the season-culminating event gets underway in Arlington, Texas, at AT&T Stadium on Nov. 12-15.
Davis expects to have maybe 20-30 family members in attendance next month at the Finals, and he spent Monday morning helping some of them get their tickets lined up now that tickets are on-sale to the general public.
AT&T Stadium is roughly four hours from Davis’ hometown of Jasper, Texas. There is no doubt Davis is not taking for granted the possibility of winning a historic World Finals at the home of the Dallas Cowboys.
“This is an opportunity I probably will never have again, riding for $300,000 in my home state and winning the World Finals,” Davis said. “That dang sure makes you want to put a little extra stick on your rope and hang on a little tighter. It would be pretty special to win.”
Only three riders in PBR history have won the World Finals event average title two times or more – Robson Palermo (2008, 2011, 2012), J.B. Mauney (2009, 2013) and Troy Dunn (1995, 1997). Davis could join those three legends with a memorable performance of his own in Texas.
Davis is 15-for-30 (50%) at the Finals in his career, and he has always understood the magnitude of historical implications in the sport.
The five-time PBR World Finals qualifier distinctly remembers the emotion that overtook him when he walked into the Thomas & Mack Center five years ago for Championship Sunday. The PBR was holding its World Finals for the 16th and final time at the Thomas & Mack Center, and Davis was in a position to win the World Finals event title.
“It is cool to think about it, when you get into situations like being the first or the last to accomplish something,” Davis said. “I got choked up the year I was going into it having a chance at winning the Finals. I thought, ‘Wow, I have a chance to beat Kaique (Pacheco) and J.B. (Mauney).’ You start thinking about things like that, and it makes you want to try that much harder to accomplish something so historic.”
A year later, and Davis was the first PBR World Champion crowned inside the state-of-the-art T-Mobile Arena.
Davis would certainly love to be the first World Champion crowned at AT&T Stadium, but the No. 8-ranked bull rider in the world knows he is a longshot this year. Trying to defeat world No. 1 Jose Vitor Leme, who leads Davis by 896.5 points in the world standings, after missing half the season may just be too tall of a task.
“I am not really thinking about it,” Davis admitted. “I am not going to say I am definitely out of it, but Jose would probably have to not show up to the next two or three (events), and then I need him to not ride at the Finals. The chances of that guy falling off more than two in a row are pretty slim.”
Davis, though, is not looking at his 2020 as a bust by any means. He knows he can still make the most of a year cut short because of an injury and altered by a worldwide pandemic.
That journey continues Saturday night with Round 1 of the PBR Express Ranches Classic, presented by Bass Pro Shops. Davis has drawn Blessed, and all the action begins at 7:45 p.m. ET on RidePass.
“To be where I am right now after being out five months, I can’t be too upset about it,” Davis said. “I was looking at it. Even getting to second place (in the world) would be within grasp. I am not saying beating Jose isn’t, but the guy is riding pretty good.”
DAVIS WILL BE PUMPED TO SEE HIS BULL IN ACTION AT THE BOK CENTER
Davis has partnered with Jeremy Walker (Paradigm Bull Company) to bring his bull Reign Hills Wedding Crasher to Tulsa. Wedding Crasher makes his UTB debut against Amadeu Campos in Round 2 Sunday.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
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