Riders to Watch in 2024: Top Performers from 2023
By: Darci Miller
PUEBLO, Colo. – We hope you’ve recovered from a wild and wonderful PBR Camping World Team Series season, because the 2024 Unleash The Beast season begins this weekend with the PBR Tucson in Tucson, Arizona, on Nov. 10-11.
Round 1 from Tucson Arena airs exclusively on RidePass on Pluto TV at 9:45 p.m. ET before CBS Sports Network has all action from day two on Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. ET.
Before we dive into another season, PBR.com is taking a look at some riders to keep an eye on as the calendar flips to 2024.
Today, let’s dig into some of the top performers from 2023 that have promising outlooks in the upcoming season.
No. 2 Jose Vitor Leme
World Championships: 2 (2020, 2021)
Best World Standings Finish: 1 (2020, 2021)
2023 UTB Stats
Rides: 25
Attempts: 45
Riding Percentage: 55.56%
Top Ride: 92 points on Cliff Hanger (New York City)
Average Ride Score: 87.3
Wins: 3 (New York City; Chicago; Sacramento, California)
Round Wins: 7
Top 5: 8
Top 10: 10
90-point Rides: 5
At this point, it looks like it’ll be a cold day in hell before Jose Vitor Leme isn’t on a list of riders to watch.
While his 2023 Unleash The Beast season didn’t live up to his world title seasons of 2020 and 2021 and ended with a profoundly uncharacteristic 2-for-8 performance at the 2023 PBR World Finals – a better performance there would’ve easily made him a three-time World Champion – most other riders would kill for a season like this. His 55.56% riding average led the UTB, his five 90-point rides tied for the league lead, and he was second in both event wins (3) and round wins (7). His No. 2 finish in the UTB standings is the third in his career.
And keep in mind: all of this was accomplished in just 16 events – by far the fewest of the riders in the Top 10.
Leme followed up his superb UTB season with a similar performance during the 2023 PBR Camping World Team Series season, where he went 23-for-32 (71%) and won his second consecutive regular-season MVP title, leading the Austin Gamblers to a No. 2 finish at the PBR Teams Championship.
Now 27 years old, Leme is well on his way to being known as the undisputed GOAT. If he stays healthy in 2024, it’s a safe bet that he’ll be in contention for a world title once again.
No. 3 Kaique Pacheco
World Championships: 1 (2018)
Best World Standings Finish: 1 (2018)
2023 UTB Stats
Rides: 30
Attempts: 62
Riding Percentage: 48.4%
Top Ride: 93 points on Ricky Vaughn (Indianapolis)
Average Ride Score: 83.51
Wins: 2 (Duluth, Georgia; Milwaukee)
Round Wins: 6
Top 5: 9
Top 10: 11
90-point Rides: 3
2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco had yet another stellar season on the UTB in 2023. While he only (“only”) has one world title, he’s finished No. 2 in the world standings four times in his career. He could’ve added another gold buckle to his trophy case this season had it not ended in heartbreak – he broke his ankle at the penultimate regular-season event in April and was forced to withdraw from the World Finals when he was ranked No. 1. His season had been so good that he was still in contention for the world title until the final days of World Finals competition.
While maybe Pacheco’s season wasn’t the most statistically flashy, with just three 90-point rides, two event wins, and an average score of 83.51 points, what he did better than anyone else was simple: stay on bulls. He led the UTB in qualified rides with 30, four more than his closest competitor. He was also remarkably consistent, competing in 25 events and placing in the Top 5 nine times.
The only thing getting in the way of Pacheco’s success in 2024 is that broken ankle. He had just one out for the Nashville Stampede during the PBR Teams season as he struggled to get his ankle back into competition form, and he’s not in the draw for Tucson.
If Pacheco is healthy in 2024, there’s no stopping him. But if his ankle keeps giving him trouble, his season could be dead in the water before it even begins.
No. 4 Wingson Henrique da Silva
World Championships: N/A
Best World Standings Finish: 4 (2023)
2023 UTB Stats
Rides: 20
Attempts: 53
Riding Percentage: 37.7%
Top Ride: 90.25 points on Chateau Montelena’s Montana Jacket (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
Average Ride Score: 85.18
Wins: 0
Round Wins: 3
Top 5: 4
Top 10: 6
90-point Rides: 1
Wingson Henrique da Silva might have the weakest statistical profile of the riders in the Top 5 of last year’s standings, but he has one big thing going for him: his second-place finish at the World Finals. Silva went 4-for-8 in Fort Worth and was well and truly in the world title race until his last out, displaying not only the importance of a strong showing at the World Finals but also his own massive potential.
Silva really shined for the Kansas City Outlaws in the PBR Teams season, going 12-for-21 (57%) as one of the key components of Kansas City’s huge turnaround in 2023. The addition of Silva helped the Outlaws go from arguably the worst team in the league in 2022 to one of the best in 2023, finishing the regular season ranked No. 2 with the most qualified rides.
Silva made his PBR debut in Teams in 2022, and 2023 was his debut UTB season. If he can keep performing at the level he did for the Outlaws, the sky’s the limit in 2024.
No. 5 Dalton Kasel
World Championships: N/A
Best World Standings Finish: 5 (2023)
2023 UTB Stats
Rides: 22
Attempts: 54
Riding Percentage: 40.7%
Top Ride: 92 points on Tulsa Time (Indianapolis)
Average Ride Score: 88.22
Wins: 2 (Los Angeles; Little Rock, Arkansas)
Round Wins: 8
Top 5: 5
Top 10: 8
90-point Rides: 5
2023 may have been Dalton Kasel’s breakout season. The 2019 Rookie of the Year led the league with 8 round wins and tied for the league lead with five 90-point rides, earning himself the nickname of Mr. 90 Points. In addition to two event wins, he also had an impressive streak of 15/15 Bucking Battles: in three in a row, he had two wins and one second-place finish.
Kasel missed almost a month due to injury at the end of the season and went a disappointing 1-for-8 at the World Finals, or his season could’ve ended differently.
But he then lived up to his billing for the Austin Gamblers in the PBR Teams season, going 13-for-29 (44%). He was felled by injury yet again, though, ending the season on an 11-out buckoff streak. His last ride back in September, though, was a 90.25-point trip on Tulsa Time, and he still managed to finish the season No. 5 in the MVP race.
A healthy Kasel could be very, very dangerous in 2024.
No. 21 Silvano Alves
World Championships: 3 (2011, 2012, 2014)
Best World Standings Finish: 1 (2011, 2012, 2014)
2023 UTB Stats
Rides: 16
Attempts: 60
Riding Percentage: 26.7%
Top Ride: 90 points on Savage (St. Louis)
Average Ride Score: 84.25
Wins: 0
Round Wins: 2
Top 5: 3
Top 10: 5
90-point Rides: 1
So, sure, Silvano Alves’s 2023 Unleash The Beast season may have been nothing to write home about. But he makes the cut as a rider to watch because of his incredible resurgence for the Nashville Stampede during the PBR Teams season.
Alves went 16-for-29 (55%) to be the Stampede’s rock during an injury-plagued season and finished an astonishing third in the MVP race. Third! Alves hasn’t had a premier series riding percentage that high since his last world title season in 2014. A not-insignificant side-note is that he became just the fourth rider in history to reach 500 career premier series rides when he rode True Religion for 84.75 points at Rattler Days in Fort Worth.
For anyone thinking Alves was cooked, think again. He finished as high as No. 9 in the world standings as recently as 2021, so who knows what he’s capable of if he’s found some new magic at 35 years old.
Honorable mentions: No. 6 Dener Barbosa, No. 7 Andrew Alvidrez, No. 15 Joao Ricardo Vieira
Photo courtesy of Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media
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