Nance: “I have so much more to offer my fans and to this sport”
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – Cody Nance has seen the questions on social media and heard the rumblings.
“I get questions all the time,” Nance told PBR.com. “’Are you still riding, or are you retired?’”
The answer?
Nance is not retired, and yes, he has every intention of returning to the Unleash The Beast and pushing for a 12th World Finals qualification this year.
The 2009 PBR Rookie of the Year is out of injury exemptions for the UTB after going 0-for-2 in Okeechobee, Florida, in January. He has been taking things slowly as he tries to battle back following nerve damage in his right shoulder that cost him the first half of last season and his ongoing battle with hip dysplasia.
“I am channeled, focused, and I want to keep pushing forward,” Nance said. “I want to make the Finals this year. It could be my last time. I won’t say yes or no at this point, but I definitely feel that time is creeping in. But I want to choose how I go out. I want to go to the Finals, and I want to retire there whenever that time comes. Not dislocate your shoulder, dislocate your hip, fracture your collarbone, come back early and miss the Finals by 100 points.
“I can’t let myself do that. I don’t believe this is the end of me. I have so much more to offer to my fans and this sport. I have enjoyed what I have done, but I feel like I have more.”
Nance is that much closer to returning to the Unleash The Beast following a second-place finish at the Collision at the Coliseum Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour event last weekend in North Charleston, South Carolina. Jesse Petri went 3-for-3 to earn the PWVT victory.
The 33-year-old earned 27 world points to rocket to No. 35 in the world standings.
Nance went 2-for-3 in North Charleston, riding Simple Man for 87 points in Round 1 and Risky Business for 87.5 points in the championship round. It was the first PBR event in which he has posted two qualified rides in 16 months. He last went 2-for-3 at the Minneapolis Invitational on October 5, 2019.
Nance will continue his push up the world standings when he heads to Pensacola, Florida, on March 20-21 for the next Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour event.
“Man, I feel stronger than I have in a long, long time,” Nance said. “I am averaging my rookie weight, and my cardio is wonderful. I can get on five bulls and I am not even winded anymore. My hip is getting stronger. My hip dysplasia is a challenge, but I have gotten it strong. I feel about 25 again.”
Nance was 163 pounds when he won the Rookie of the Year title in 2009, and he says he is hovering between 160 and 165 this season.
He said that his hip has been the bigger problem compared to the nerve damage in his shoulder.
“That hip has always been the biggest issue,” Nance said.
Nance returned for the Monster Energy Team Challenge in June last year, but he did not look like the same rider who had qualified for 11 consecutive PBR World Finals.
He finished 2020 5-for-31 (16.13%) and placed a career-low 107th in the world standings.
“I know I could have done so much more, and it was obviously a disappointment,” Nance admitted. “If you take that disappointment, and you let it tear yourself down, you aren’t going to go any farther.
“You have to set another goal and pick your head up and keep going.”
PARIS, TENNESSEE TO WELCOME THE PBR ON JULY 2-3
Nance has been focusing recently on bringing more bull ridings to the Tennessee region.
Nance hosted the Cody Nance Invitational Cooper Tires Bull Riding Challenge on Jan. 22-23 in Jackson, Mississippi, and he is looking forward to hosting Cody Nance’s PBR In Paris Touring Pro Division event at the Henry County Fairgrounds in Paris, Tennessee, on July 2-3.
“I have been working on some events that I am putting on,” Nance said. “We are bringing the PBR to Paris. I got a lot of support. Everybody has been great. Paris was the one who really wanted the PBR to come. The city has really gotten behind me on making that happen. We are going to try and make that an annual event. I got a couple of other events on top of that I am going to try to work on.
“It is awesome. I would have never imagined having these opportunities. I had seen there was an opening for Jackson, and it was an idea. Now I see where an idea can go.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andre Silva/Bull Stock Media
© 2021 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.