Tim Bingham Caps Strong Stretch with Title
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. – This time of year seems to be a good one for bull rider Tim Bingham.
After winning three times in July, Bingham took two more this weekend, capped off by winning Sunday when he rode the Cervi Brothers’ Hammer Time for 88 points at the Rancho Mission Viejo Rodeo.
Bingham, who entered the weekend in seventh place in the WEATHER GUARD® PRCA World Standings, picked up another $7,924 at the rodeo in San Juan Capistrano.
“I had an almost identical week to last year,” he said. “… I don’t know what’s going on. It seems to be the last couple, few years, I have a lot of luck this week. I’m not complaining, I like it.”
A night earlier, Bingham won the Golden Spike Rodeo in Tremonton, Utah, with a 91.5-point ride. And earlier in the week he took second in the average at the Gem State Stampede Division 2 Xtreme Bulls event in Couer D’Alene, Idaho.
The stretch picked him up after a slow month. This weekend, compounded with July, has him plenty confident and riding without stress because he’s entrenched in the middle of the Top 15.
That wasn’t the case a year ago.
When he headed to the Rancho Mission Viejo Rodeo in 2016, Bingham was on the bubble and battling to stay in the hunt for a berth in the Wrangler National Finals Rodeopresented by Polaris RANGER. The 2016 win at San Juan Capistrano helped him qualify for his second WNFR.
This year, there’s a lot less stress for him. He knows he can’t catch world leader Sage Kimzey (who took second place on Sunday), but he also knows that after this weekend took him over $100,000 for the year he’s all but guaranteed to head back to Las Vegas in December.
“For me right now there’s, I’d say, close to zero pressure, because I know with the time that’s left I can’t catch Sage who’s winning the world,” said Bingham, who finished 12th in the world standings in 2016. “I’m not in a tight spot trying to go into the national finals and sit No. 1 because it’s just impossible with the amount of rodeos left and the time frame; I can’t catch him. There’s no stress there going to the top. … I know on the bottom end I’m going to make the national finals no matter what.”
Bingham didn’t know much about Hammer Time. He’d only seen him once (in Casper, Wyo.) but got a good ride from him Sunday.
“He was pretty sweet,” he said. “He turned out to be a good one.”
Not only was this a good week, but on Labor Day the Utah resident will turn 26. He’s planning on taking the next several days to relax and recuperate by dunking in some hot springs and doing some mountain biking before hitting a few more rodeos over the holiday weekend.
“Recuperate, get all my sores soaked,” he said, “and get ready to go into the week feeling as fresh as you possibly can.”
Other winners at the $218,454 rodeo were all-around champion Ryle Smith ($2,782 in tie-down roping and steer wrestling), bareback rider Jake Vold (86.5 points on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Baby Face), steer wrestler Justin Shaffer (3.5 seconds), team ropers Clay Smith and Paul Eves (4.8 seconds), saddle bronc rider Clay Elliott (87 points on Flying 5 Rodeo’s Blue Feather) and tie-down roper Tyson Durfey (8.0 seconds).
For more coverage of the Rancho Mission Viejo Rodeo, check out the Sept. 15 edition of ProRodeo Sports News.
Courtesy of PRCA