Lockwood Headlines First Weekend of Velocity Tour Action in Casper

By: Kacie Albert

CASPER, Wyo. – Ahead of the first weekend of competition for the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour’s Casper Invitational, driven by Wyoming Ford Dealers, in Casper, Wyoming, the toughest sport on dirt has announced the two, 45-rider rosters anticipated to compete October 2-3 at the Casper Events Center, with two-time and reigning PBR World Champion Jess Lockwood (Volborg, Montana) headlining the contingent riding in the ever-critical, late-season events.

Lockwood is also anticipated to be joined by the young gun-veteran duo of Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York) and Sean Willingham (Summerville, Georgia), as well as PBR star Valdiron de Oliveira (Balcimo, Brazil).

PBR’s fastest growing tour will hold events in Casper on both Oct. 2-3 and Oct. 9-10. The four-part tour stop will mark the series’ final events prior to the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals on Nov. 6-7 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.

As one of the final regular-season events for the 2020 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour, the PBR Casper Invitational, driven by Wyoming Ford Dealers, promises fierce competition as the world’s best riders battle it out for crucial points towards a place in the tour standings’ Top 35 and a berth to the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals.

In cooperation with Casper-Natrona County Health Department, as well as the Casper Events Center, PBR has instituted a series of fan safety protocols for a safe and responsible event, including: All PBR personnel will undergo CDC-informed screening and medical testing for COVID-19 (coronavirus); All Casper Events Center employees, vendors and show personnel will wear masks, and be subject to daily temperature checks and symptom screenings; POD seating with a maximum 50% arena capacity to increase social distancing and minimize crossover; and enhanced sanitization protocols.

Lockwood, slated to exclusively compete on the first night of action on Friday, October 2, will be keen to gain crucial world points as he seeks his third PBR World Championship. Currently No. 4 in the PBR world standings, he trails No. 1 Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) by 716 points.

At each of the four events, a cowboy will have the opportunity to win a maximum 44 world points.

Lockwood’s season began with great momentum, riding to a third-place finish at the season-launch Major in New York City and then capturing his first Unleash The Beast victory of the year two weeks later in Manchester, New Hampshire.

While the Montana man continued to experience success, leading him to briefly hold the world No. 1 ranking, his season came to an abrupt halt on March 1 in Kansas City, Missouri when he ripped his left hamstring muscles from his hip, resulting in surgery and a subsequent six-month recovery.

Lockwood returned to competition in mid-September in Billings, Montana, instantly displaying the championship form for which he’s known. After delivering an eleventh-place result in his home state, the 22-year-old was most recently fourth in Des Moines, Iowa.

In addition to being just one of five riders in league history to win multiple World Championships, Lockwood is both the youngest World Champion and youngest two-time World Champion. Moreover, he is the fastest rider in league history to eclipse $4 million in career earnings, accomplishing the feat in roughly 39 months. Lockwood’s current career earnings, fifth most of all-time, total $4,153,715.29.

Swearingen is no stranger to success inside the Casper Events Center.

A member of the 2019 College Champion Panola College Rodeo Team, Swearingen also captured the College Bull Riding Championship during the College National Finals Rodeo held in Wyoming in June 2019.

One of the sport’s fastest-rising sensations, Swearingen is currently No. 6 in the PBR world standings, within 783.34 points of No. 1 Leme. Swearingen’s season began in championship form, as the 21-year-old captured his career-first Unleash The Beast victory in mid-January in Chicago.

In the months since, Swearingen has logged four additional Top-5 efforts on the premier series, in addition to winning the 15/15 Bucking Battle in St. Louis, Missouri courtesy of a monstrous 91.75-point ride aboard YETI PBR World Champion Bull contender I’m Legit Too (Hart Cattle Co./Hale/Bloyd).

Like Lockwood, Swearingen will exclusively ride during the Friday, October 2 event.

Joining Lockwood and Swearingen in the Friday night event will be three additional riders presently ranked inside the Top 35: Alex Cerqueira (Iguatemi, Brazil), Joao Henrique Lucas (Bastos, Brazil) and Dakota Louis (Browning, Montana).

Anticipated to ride in both events, twelve-time PBR World Finals qualifier Willingham will make his triumphant return to competition amid a final season of competition riddled by injury, including recovery from a broken leg sustained in 2019 and a recent broken ankle.

Willingham, one of the sport’s most accomplished riders, has competed at just five PBR events across all levels of competition this season. His efforts were led by an 18th-place result in Bangor, Maine in early March on the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour.

Oliveira, yet another veteran of the sport, is also slated to compete. The 41-year-old is emerging from retirement for the second time in his career, stepping away from bull riding following both the 2016 and 2018 PBR World Finals.

Thus far in 2020, Oliveira has ridden at one event, finishing third on the Touring Pro Division in Odessa, Texas in early August.

The complete field of riders anticipated to compete on Friday, October 2 are: Lockwood, Swearingen, Cerqueira, Matt Triplett (Canton, South Dakota), Lucas, Louis, Junior Patrik Souza (Sonora, Brazil), Cody Casper (Newport, Washington), Paulo Ferreira Lima (Bezerros, Brazil), Marcus Mast (Middlebury, Indiana), Cody Campbell (Summerville, Oregon), Boudreaux Campbell (Crockett, Texas), Keith Hall (Blakely, Georgia), Eli Vastbinder (Statesville, North Carolina), Grayson Cole (New Riggold, Pennsylvania), Kyle Jones (Troy, Missouri), Wallace Vieira de Oliveira (Goiania, Brazil), Alex Santana (Chowchilla, California), Tyler Werner (Houston, Texas), Gage Gay (Staley, North Carolina), Dylan Smith (Ararat, Virginia), Romildo Rodrigues (Itatiba, Brazil), Venn Johns (Bixby, Oklahoma), Alex Cardozo (Indaiatuba, Brazil), Lucas Fideles Souza (Barnstable, Massachusetts), Ouncie Mitchell (Fresno, Texas), Hunter Ball (Carsonville, Missouri), River Stephenson (Blackfoot, Idaho), Chase Dougherty (Canby, Oregon), Francisco Garcia Torres (Sal, Mexico), Rubens Barbosa (Iaciara, Brazil), Francisco Morales (Irapuato, Mexico), Kyle Oliver (Roy, Utah), Cody Dollins (Waco, Texas), Josh Frost (Randlett, Utah), Caleb Christian (Halletsville, Texas), Andre da Cruz de Souza (Brazil), Kache Moosman (Price, Utah), Thor Hoefer II (Priest River, Idaho), Zac Harris (Zephyr, Texas), V. Oliveira, Dalton Rudman (Wellington, Utah), Dylan Madsen (Lowler Brule, South Dakota), Willingham and Ky Hamilton (Mackay, Queensland, Australia).

The tentative rider list for Saturday, October 3 is: Louis, J. Souza, Casper, Lima, Mast, C. Campbell, B. Campbell, Hall, Vastbinder, Cole, Jones, W. Oliveira, Santana, Werner, Gay, Smith, Rodrigues, Johns, Cardozo, L. Souza, Mitchell, Ball, Stephenson, Dougherty, Torres, Barbosa, Morales, Oliver, Dollins, Frost, Christian, A. Souza, Moosman, Hoefer II, Harris, V. Oliveira, Rudman, Michael Lane (Tazewell, Virginia), Madsen, Fernando da Conceicao (Piracicaba, Brazil), J.T. Pettitt (Odessa, Texas), Trace Brown (Stephenville, Texas), Laramie Craigen (Stephenville, Texas), Conner Halverson (Gordon, Nebraska), Willingham and Hamilton.

The bull riding action for the first weekend of the PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour’s Casper Invitational, driven by Wyoming Ford Dealers, will get underway nightly on Friday, October 2, and Saturday, October 3, at 7:30 p.m. MDT.

Nightly, all 45 riders will attempt one bull each in Round 1 of the PBR Casper Invitational, driven by Wyoming Ford Dealers. The Top 15 cowboys will then advance to the championship round later that evening for one more out and a chance at the event title.

Tickets for all four performances go on sale Friday, August 21 at 10:00 a.m. CDT and start at $15. They can be purchased online at www.SinclairTix.com, at the SinclairTix Box Office at the Casper Events Center or at any statewide SinclairTix outlet, or by calling 800-442-2256 or PBR customer service at 1-800-732-1727.

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