PRCA for the Record: Spanish Fork
By Matt Naber
Prize money attracts cowboys to rodeos like bees to honey. The bigger the prize, the bigger the rodeo – and with that comes fiercer competition with higher scores and faster runs.
The committee behind the Spanish Fork (Utah) Fiesta Days Rodeo knows this is how ProRodeo works, and they’ve increased their rodeo’s total payout every year since 2011.
• 2011: $179,851
• 2012: $198,225
• 2013: $202,937
• 2014: $227,684
• 2015: $227,857
• 2016: $251,870
• 2017: $276,762
• 2018: $289,453
The rodeo also grew significantly between 2004-10 with some fluctuations, but it ultimately went from $98,257 in 2004 to $189,604 in 2010, the same year it joined the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour.
A rodeo of this caliber wasn’t created overnight.
The Spanish Fork Fiesta Days Rodeo had a humble beginning when members of the Diamond Fork Riding Club started the rodeo with their money in 1942, the same year it joined the PRCA. Spanish Fork’s decades of commitment to ProRodeo landed the Spanish Fork Fiesta Days Rodeo in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2016.
All of that growth is reflected in the rodeo’s records as the majority were set within the last four years.
Cowboys will have their chance to win their share of Spanish Fork’s prize money while trying to dethrone one of the rodeo’s records July 19-24. As an added incentive, cowboys will also compete for valuable ProRodeo Tour points.
Rodeo records
• Total payout: $289,453 in 2018
• All-around: $8,710, Josh Peek, 2015
• Bareback riding: 89 points, James Sursa, 2006; Ryan Gray, 2009
• Steer wrestling: 3.2 seconds, Baylor Roche, 2016 (7.5/2, Seth Brockman, 2014; Tyler Waguespack, 2016)
• Team roping: 3.7 seconds, Tee Woolman/Bobby Harris, 1986; Clay Smith/Paul Eaves, 2015; Doyle Hoskins/Wyatt Cox, 2015; Dustin Egusquiza/Kory Koontz, 2018 (8.4/2, Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 2018)
• Saddle bronc riding: 89 points, Jeffrey Willert, 2005
• Tie-down roping: 6.7 seconds, Marty Yates, 2013 (14.5/2, Shane Hanchey, 2013)
• Barrel racing: 16.70 seconds, Cayla Melby, 2016
• Bull riding: 93 points, Howdy Cloud, 2011
Courtesy of PRCA