KANSAS CITY, Mo. ― The Professional Bull Riders Caterpillar Classic, part of the 2014 Built Ford Tough Series, produced records, career bests and a first time win for 2012 PBR Rookie of the Year Emilio Resende.
A weekend attendance of 23,641, which included a sold-out audience on Saturday night, set a record for two-day PBR events in Kansas City and the excited crowd cheered raucously at they watched Resende go 3-for-3 on the weekend for 254.5 points to win the event title and $36,000 for just 24 seconds of work.
“I’m very happy,” said Resende. “I tried really hard to do this. I was beginning to think I would never win. I thank God everything went well today.”
Guilherme Marchi, whose second-place tie with Valdiron de Oliveira(251.5 points) moved him back to the No. 1 spot in the PBR world standings, notched the 497th and 498th qualified rides of his career on Sunday. He is on track to surpass the 500 mark in Arlington, Texas, next weekend during the PBR’s Dr Pepper Iron Cowboy V at AT&T Stadium.
19-year-old Gage Gay of Staley, N.C., was in the lead heading into the Built Ford Tough Championship Round with 173.50 points following Round 2. He was the last rider of the evening and held his fate in his own hands, but after 4.73 seconds he was tossed to the dirt by Rock River Red (Dakota Rodeo/ Chad Berger/ J.R. Scott/ Dallas Schott). The young man ended the weekend in fourth place and now has two Top-10 finishes in only three events in 2014.
Robson Palermo (172.75 points) had a fifth-place showing in his first event back on tour after suffering a hamstring injury in Oklahoma City in late January.
Margy Time (D&H Cattle Company), one of the ABBI Classic bulls who competed on Saturday, was named the Salem National Lease High-Marked Bull of the Event with his score of 45.25 points.
As the bull riders entertained the live audience, the PBR’s TV and internet audience took the sport to a new high, helping it surpass the 1 million likes milestone on Facebook.
During the live broadcast of the Caterpillar Classic on CBS Sports Network, the PBR hit the 1-million mark just seven months after reaching 500,000 likes on the platform. Since July of last year, according to Facebook statistics, the PBR’s page has grown by 515,655 likes, ahead of many other major sports organizations, including NASCAR (468,884) and the NHL (300,867). During that span, the PBR’s total number of Facebook fans surpassed that of the PGA Tour and Major League Soccer.
Earlier this month, the PBR’s combined international Facebook followers number hit the 1.5 million mark. It currently sits at 1,613,421 fans, including PBR Brazil, PBR Australia, PBR Canada, PBR Latino and PBR Touring Pro Division.
Fan engagement via the PBR Facebook page also continues to out-mark most other major sports organizations, as the sport’s PTAT number (People Talking About This) consistently sits above 10 percent. The PBR’s impressive fan engagement numbers earned it recognition as a finalist last year in the category of “Facebook Engagement” at the Cynopsis Sports Media Awards.
As a thank you to fans, the PBR is awarding one of its 1 million followers the chance to watch the Bad Boy Mowers Million Dollar Ride from behind-the-chutes at Saturday’s Dr Pepper Iron Cowboy in Arlington, Texas. Fifty additional winners will be awarded a pair of tickets to the marquee event at AT&T Stadium.
Next week the PBR travels to Arlington, Texas, for its fifth annual PBR Dr Pepper Iron Cowboy V. It’s the only bracket-style event on the BFTS and matches the riders in a single elimination, head-to-head competition with the highest-scored bull rider or the rider with the longest ride (should neither rider in a matchup make a qualified ride) advancing to the next round. When the last man prevails, he will be the Iron Cowboy and win the opportunity to attempt to ride Bushwacker for $1 million in the Bad Boy Mowers Million Dollar Ride.
CBS Sports Network will air the preliminary rounds of the Iron Cowboy V on Saturday, March 1, at 8 p.m. ET. The final rounds and the Bad Boy Mowers Million Dollar Ride will air on CBS Network Television on Sunday, March 2, at 1 p.m. ET.
The BFTS is televised every week on CBS, CBS Sports Network and networks around the world. BFTS telecasts are produced for the PBR under a multi-year agreement with 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.
Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series
Caterpillar Classic
Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Final Results (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Total Points, Money Earned) …
1. Emilio Resende, 88.5-80.5-85.5-254.50 points, $36,000.00
2/3. Guilherme Marchi, 85.25-80.5-85.75-251.50 points, $15,720.00
2/3. Valdiron de Oliveira, 86.75-81.5-83.25-251.50 points, $12,450.00
4. Gage Gay, 89-84.5-0-173.50 points, $9,165.00
5. Robson Palermo, 87.25-85.5-0-172.75 points, $5,700.00
6. Billy Robinson, 0-86.25-84.5-170.75 points, $7,316.67
7. Silvano Alves, 84.75-84.75-0-169.50 points, $2,850.00
8. Brady Sims, 85-83.5-0-168.50 points, $1,900.00
9. Sean Willingham, 83.5-83-0-166.50 points, $1,400.00
10. Pistol Robinson, 88.75-0-0-88.75 points, $3,650.00
11. Matt Triplett, 87.25-0-0-87.25 points, $1,475.00
12. Chase Outlaw, 0-86.5-0-86.50 points, $3,980.00
13/14. Marco Eguchi, 0-86.25-0-86.25 points, $2,416.67
13/14. Zane Lambert, 0-86.25-0-86.25 points, $2,416.67
15. Douglas Duncan, 85.75-0-0-85.75 points, $850.00
16. L.J. Jenkins, 0-85.5-0-85.50 points, $1,125.00
17. Joao Ricardo Vieira, 0-84.5-0-84.50 points, $585.00
18/19. Jory Markiss, 0-84-0-84.00 points, $400.00
18/19. Lachlan Richardson, 84-0-0-84.00 points, $400.00
20. Harve Stewart, 0-83-0-83.00 points, $400.00
21/22. Ben Jones, 0-82.25-0-82.25 points, $400.00
21/22. Ty Pozzobon, 0-82.25-0-82.25 points, $400.00
23. Eduardo Aparecido, 69-0-0-69.00 points, $400.00
Austin Meier, 0-0-0-0.00 points, $400.00
Claudio Crisostomo, 0-0-0-0.00 points, $400.00
Cody Nance, 0-0-0-0.00 points, $400.00
Fabiano Vieira, 0-0-0-0.00 points, $400.00
J.B. Mauney, 0-0-0-0.00 points, $400.00
Kasey Hayes, 0-0-0-0.00 points, $400.00
Markus Mariluch, 0-0-0-0.00 points, $400.00
Mike Lee, 0-0-0-0.00 points, $400.00
Reese Cates, 0-0-0-0.00 points, $400.00
Renato Nunes, 0-0-0-0.00 points, $400.00
Ryan Dirteater, 0-0-0-0.00 points, $400.00
Stetson Lawrence, 0-0-0-0.00 points, $400.00
2014 Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series Season Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5’s, Points, Total Winnings)
1. Guilherme Marchi, 8, 0, 4, 3,908.250, $72,086.67
2. Mike Lee, 8, 0, 5, 3,784.250, $47,003.54
3. Joao Ricardo Vieira, 8, 1, 3, 3,539.370, $90,724.01
4. Valdiron de Oliveira, 8, 1, 3, 3,274.120, $73,373.28
5. Fabiano Vieira, 8, 2, 3, 3,084.370, $90,687.66
6. J. B. Mauney, 7, 1, 3, 2,758.370, $61,463.47
7. L.J. Jenkins, 8, 0, 1, 2,468.620, $30,661.92
8. Sean Willingham, 8, 1, 1, 2,344.500, $56,758.20
9. Robson Palermo, 6, 0, 1, 2,229.750, $28,101.67
10. Cláudio Crisóstomo, 8, 0, 2, 2,214.870, $34,248.33
11. Stormy Wing, 7, 0, 1, 2,202.370, $31,750.50
12. Emilio Resende, 7, 1, 2, 2,167.500, $60,825.00
13. Marco Eguchi, 8, 1, 2, 2,002.500, $62,801.67
14. Nathan Schapper, 6, 1, 1, 2,002.250, $44,087.20
15. Matt Triplett, 8, 0, 1, 1,981.700, $26,559.25
16. Silvano Alves, 8, 0, 0, 1,718.120, $14,098.33
17. Gage Gay, 4, 0, 1, 1,676.370, $22,543.78
18. Billy Robinson, 8, 0, 0, 1,548.500, $17,957.55
19. Ryan Dirteater, 8, 0, 1, 1,454.000, $24,781.58
20. Eduardo Aparecido Silva, 7, 0, 0, 1,448.750, $13,478.33
21. Markus Mariluch, 8, 0, 1, 1,394.750, $15,855.75
22. Chase Outlaw, 8, 0, 0, 1,377.370, $22,631.25
23. Ty Pozzobon, 8, 0, 1, 1,288.120, $17,495.77
24. Brady Sims, 2, 0, 0, 1,287.500, $19,065.08
25. Cody Nance, 8, 0, 0, 1,271.370, $22,438.26
26. Kasey Hayes, 6, 0, 0, 1,244.000, $19,708.19
27. Zane Lambert, 4, 0, 1, 1,192.910, $29,160.38
28. Pistol Robinson, 8, 0, 0, 1,120.040, $20,119.03
29. Reese Cates, 8, 0, 1, 1,115.000, $11,028.98
30. Harve Stewart, 3, 0, 0, 1,098.160, $19,532.49
31. Jory Markiss, 8, 0, 0, 921.500, $16,979.61
32. Lachlan Richardson, 8, 0, 0, 885.750, $13,162.09
33. Douglas Duncan, 8, 0, 1, 757.500, $8,723.33
34. Renato Nunes, 8, 0, 0, 711.750, $5,370.00
35. Ben Jones, 7, 0, 0, 696.620, $8,799.56
36. Austin Meier, 7, 0, 0, 600.120, $4,776.07
37. Kody Lostroh, 3, 0, 0, 583.750, $5,508.33
38. David Mason, 0, 0, 0, 558.620, $14,697.58
39. Brant Atwood, 5, 0, 0, 513.620, $5,638.88
40. Jason Malone, 1, 0, 0, 513.250, $10,154.75
41. Jordan Hupp, 5, 0, 0, 475.750, $3,953.45
42. Jared Farley, 0, 0, 0, 467.000, $16,557.25
43. Keith Roquemore, 1, 0, 0, 427.750, $12,465.10
44. Scottie Knapp, 0, 0, 0, 414.580, $7,907.35
45. Aaron Pass, 1, 0, 0, 413.370, $12,875.39
© 2014 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.