SWEET SEVENTEEN – The PBR Built Ford Tough Series will make its 17thvisit to Idaho for The DeWALT Guaranteed Tough Invitational this weekend. Until 2011, the BFTS made a stop in Idaho 14 consecutive times from 1997-2010. Competition will begin at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 4, and Saturday, April 5, at the Ford Idaho Center.
UP NEXT – The Rimrock Auto Arena will host the Stanley Performance in Action Invitational presented by Cooper Tires at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 11, 7:50 p.m. on Saturday, April 12, and 1:50 p.m. on Sunday, April 13. This will be the 18th time in PBR history that the Professional Bull Riders bring the BFTS to Billings.
PAST IDAHO EVENT WINNERS – Four current riders have won in Idaho before, including veteran Sean Willingham, 2009 World Champion Kody Lostroh, two-time World Champion Silvano Alves and reigning Idaho event champion Fabiano Vieira. Here is a complete list of winners in Idaho:
2013 Fabiano Vieira
2012 Luke Snyder
2010 Silvano Alves
2009 Kody Lostroh
2008 Luke Snyder
2007 Sean Willingham
2006 Wiley Petersen
2005 Tater Porter
2004 Michael Gaffney
2003 Chad Lucas
2002 Reuben Geleynse
2001 Ty Murray
2000 Tater Porter
1999 Curt Lyons
1998 Donald Owens at Boise
1997 Josh O’Byrne at Boise
FORMAT – This weekend, the Top 35 bull riders on the BFTS will compete in Round 1 on Friday night and Round 2 on Saturday night, facing one bull in each round. The riders with the Top 15 scores after two rounds will advance to the Built Ford Tough Championship Round on Saturday for an additional ride and a chance at the $30,000 event title.
PBR 15/15 BUCKING BATTLE – The fourth PBR 15/15 Bucking Battle of the 2014 season will be held immediately following Round 1 on Friday. The PBR 15/15 Bucking Battle features the Top 15 riders in the world competing against the 15 highest-ranked bulls at the event for an additional purse of $21,000. The bulls are randomly assigned a position from 1-15 and the riders are then matched with their bulls based upon their own current rankings in the BFTS standings. BFTS points will be doubled in the PBR 15/15 Bucking Battle, with the winner receiving 200 points and second place receiving 180 points, continuing down on a graduated scale to 20 points for 10th place. Points earned count toward the BFTS standings, but DO NOT count toward determining the event winner in Idaho. If a rider fails to make a qualified ride, he does not receive any points or money.
15/15 Bucking Battle Schedule
Jan. 25 in Oklahoma City, Okla. ~ Marco Eguchi won with a 90.75 point ride on Rango
Feb. 8 in Anaheim, Calif. ~ Joao Ricardo Vieira won with a 90.75 point ride on Shepherd Hills Stockman
March 28 in Fresno, Calif. ~ Silvano Alves won with an 89.5 point ride on Rango
April 4 in Boise, Idaho, will air on CBS April 5 at 3 pm ET
April 11 in Billings, Mont., will air on CBS April 12 at 12:30 pm ET
May 3 in Colorado Springs, Colo., will air on CBS May 4 at 2 pm ET
15/15 Bucking Battle Matchups
1. Robson Palermo vs. Wicked (J.A.R.S. Bucking Bulls/Gene Owen)
2. Stormy Wing vs. Shepherd Hills Stockman (Wolf Creek Cattle Co./Shepherd Hills Cutlery/Tom Luthy)
3. Sean Willingham vs. Rock River Red (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/J.R. Scott/Dallas Scott)
4. Gage Gay vs. Buck Dynasty (BMC Bucking Bulls/Owen Ranch)
5. Silvano Alves vs. Modified Clyde (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve)
6. L.J. Jenkins vs. Smackdown (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/Julie Rosen)
7. Matt Triplett vs. New Holland PowerStar (Jeff Robinson/Bar 3D Bucking Bulls)
8. Cody Nance vs. Raven Flyer (J.A.R.S. Bucking Bulls/Gene Owen)
9. Emilio Resende vs. South Paw (Show Sports Bucking Bulls/Missy Luczak-Smith)
10. Marco Eguchi vs. Pound The Alarm (J.A.R.S. Bucking Bulls/Gene Owen)
11. Valdiron de Oliveira vs. Percolator (Jeff Robinson Bucking Bulls)
12. Mike Lee vs. Stanley FatMax (Jeff Robinson Bucking Bulls)
13. Fabiano Vieira vs. Cowtown Slinger (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve)
14. Guilherme Marchi vs. Chocolate Thunder (Bird Bucking Bulls)
15. Joao Ricardo Vieira vs. Bushwacker (Julio Moreno Bucking Bulls)
BAD BOY MOWERS BOUNTY BULL –The Professional Bull Riders and Bad Boy Mowers have teamed up to offer $25,000 to any rider who is matched with and successfully rides the Bad Boy Mowers Bounty Bull during each 15/15 Bucking Battle. This weekend Joao Ricardo Vieira is the lucky rider who will go up against Bushwacker for the extra $25,000 on Friday night. This is the second time in his career that the 2013 Rookie of the Year will face the two-time World Champion Bull. Vieira’s first attempt happened at Dr Pepper Iron Cowboy V when Bushwacker bucked him off in 2.2 seconds after being crowned PBR’s Iron Cowboy.
POSSIBLE POINTS – There are 900 possible points available in Idaho, as the winner of the event will receive 300 points and each of the three round wins is worth 100 points plus the ride score.
PROVIDING PROTECTION – The Dickies® Bullfighters this weekend are Jesse Byrne of Okotoks, Alberta; Shorty Gorham of Cotulla, Texas; and Frank Newsom of Paoli, Okla.
TELEVISION BROADCAST – PBR LIVE will broadcast the DeWALT Guaranteed Tough Invitational at 10 p.m. ET on both Friday, April 4, and Saturday, April 5.
The 15/15 Bucking Battle will air on CBS Network Television Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. CBS Sports Network will broadcast Round 2 and the Built Ford Tough Championship Round on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.
The broadcast will have Craig Hummer providing play-by-play, color commentary from J.W. Hart and dirt-level interviews will be handled by Leah Garcia.
BFTS telecasts are produced for the PBR by David Neal Productions, a Los Angeles-based production company led by 34-time Emmy® Award winner and Peabody Award winner David Neal, who serves as executive producer and creative lead.
Click HERE for the rest of this weekend’s game notes.
© 2014 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.