Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Leader Lane to be Out a Few Weeks With Groin Injury
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – Michael Lane has been laser-focused on claiming the 2021 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour championship, but his bid for his first Velocity title has hit a speed bump.
Last Friday, Lane strained his right groin attempting to ride Longmire in Round 1 of the PBR Tri-Cities Classic, and the No. 1-ranked bull rider on the Velocity Tour only felt worse once Dirty Little Sailor bucked him off in 2.28 seconds in Round 2 on Saturday.
The 31-year-old told PBR.com he expects to miss the next three or four Velocity Tour events because of the injury.
There are six regular-season Velocity Tour events remaining before the 2021 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals on Oct. 30-31 at the South Point Arena & Equestrian Center.
“I’m hoping to be back in four weeks,” Lane said. “It just popped on me the first night, and I tried to ride the second night, and it was just too bad. It is hard to ride with any kind of hip injury.”
Lane currently holds a slim 22-point lead in the Velocity Tour standings on No. 2 Conner Halverson, who is currently competing on the Unleash The Beast. So too are the No. 3 and No. 4-ranked VT riders Adriano Salgado and Austin Richardson.
No. 5 Manoelito de Souza Jr. will be the highest-ranked Velocity Tour rider competing at this Saturday’s Buckin’ at The Rock in Church Rock, New Mexico. Souza is 35 points behind Lane in the VT standings and leads the VT Tour with five round wins.
Fans can watch the event exclusively on Ride Pass on Pluto TV beginning at 9 p.m. ET.
Cody Casper will look to gain ground in the VT title race following his second career VT victory last weekend. Casper went 3-for-3 in Kennewick for his first win since the January 18, 2020, Portland Classic.
He is now ranked 11th in the Velocity Tour standings and is a mere 58 points behind Lane. The 28-year-old is attempting to qualify for his first PBR World Finals after going 0-for-3 last year in Arlington, Texas, as an alternate.
The 2021 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour champion earns $50,000 and an automatic berth to the 2021 PBR World Finals on Nov. 3-7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Also competing in New Mexico is 2017 PBR Mexico champion Francisco Morales. The 39-year-old just received his brown belt this week in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is attempting to qualify for his first PBR World Finals.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andre Silva/Bull Stock Media
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