Sage Kimzey Eyes Another DIvision 1 Xtreme Bulls Season Title
By Tracy Renck
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Sage Kimzey will try and continue his domination of the PRCA Division 1 Xtreme Bulls Tour this weekend.
Kimzey has won three Xtreme Bulls Tour titles the last four years, including the last two.
The Strong City, Okla., cowboy enters the Xtreme Bulls Tour Finale in Ellensburg, Wash., as the season leader. The Finale begins at 8 p.m. (PST), Aug. 31. (The event is scheduled to be streamed on Wrangler Network.)
Kimzey has earned $67,333 in the Xtreme Bulls this season. Trey Benton III is second in the standings with $53,302 followed by Clayton Sellars with $38,865.
Kimzey also is leading the latest PRCA | RAM World Standings with $198,280. He has won five consecutive world championships.
“Ellensburg has always been really good to me, and hopefully that continues this year,” said Kimzey, who turned 25 on Aug. 26. “At the X Bulls Finale it is important to stay on your bulls just like it is anywhere else, take it one bull at a time, don’t look too far in front of you and keep your nose to the grindstone.”
Kimzey has three career victories in Ellensburg (2014-15 and 2018). Since the Xtreme Bulls Tour started in 2003, Kanin Asay (2007 and 2012) has been
the only rider other than Kimzey to win more than one Xtreme Bulls year-end title.
Kimzey has earned $323,134 in the Xtreme Bulls Tour over his career, a PRCA record.
A year ago, in Ellensburg, Kimzey earned $33,323 for the victory. Kimzey won the Finale after finishing with 166 points on two head. At the time, his haul at Ellensburg ranked second all-time in one-stop wins on the Xtreme Bulls Tour, behind only Jordan Spears’ $39,386 won in Ellensburg in 2017.
“Anytime the money is big and the bulls are good is when I ride the best,” Kimzey said.
Kimzey was the only cowboy to cover both bulls last year at the Finale. Kimzey has one Division 1 Xtreme Bulls win this season, capturing the victory in Reno (Nev.) and giving him eight career Division 1 Xtreme Bulls career wins. That has him tied with Matt Austin for the all-time lead.
“I’m aware of the history, and it is something on my list (to achieve),” Kimzey said.
Benton, who won the Division 1 Xtreme Bulls title in San Antonio in February and earned $35,250 for the victory (the second largest amount won at a one-stop event), is ready for Ellensburg.
“I really enjoy this (Finale),” said Benton, 27. “This is one of the highest-paying (events) for us at the end of the year. I had a big win once this year (in San Antonio), and I would not mind doing it again. That would really help me out.”
Benton is eighth in the latest world standings with $102,894.
Courtesy of PRCA