Top 10 Rides on the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour in 2020

By: Darci Miller

PUEBLO, Colo. – The 2020 season was unlike any other in PBR history. The Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour was not immune to the effects and saw a significantly shortened event schedule, but that didn’t affect the quality of the bull riding.

Read on to relive the Top 10 rides of the 2020 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour season – all of which were above 90 points – and tune in as the 2021 Velocity Tour kicks off in Cedar Park, Texas, on Jan. 15-16. (Click here for tickets).

1. Mauricio Moreira on Boogie Bomb for 92.25 points, Sioux Falls Invitational championship round

The highest-scoring ride on the Velocity Tour in 2020 came at the Sioux Falls Invitational, the first Velocity event after a four-month break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the championship round, Mauricio Moreira rode Boogie Bomb for 92.25 points to take the first Velocity Tour event win of his career.

2. Cooper Davis on Lil 2 Train for 91.5 points, Sioux Falls Invitational championship round

Moreira’s ride may have bumped 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis down to second place in the championship round, but Davis’s 91.5-point effort aboard Lil 2 Train still helped him to a second-place overall finish in the event.

T3. Mason Taylor on Walking Tall for 90.5 points, Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals Round 1

 
Taylor earned an identical 90.5-point score in the championship round aboard Marquis Metal Works Draggin Up to clinch the event victory.

“I didn’t even think I could win the year-end (title), so to say the least, I did not know that I was going to walk out of there with $60,000,” Taylor said in November. “I just figured, ‘Hey, I come here, do my job, win the Finals, I’ll walk out of here with $20-25,000. I went to reading that article that was on PBR.com, and it said, ‘after Taylor has a $60,000 weekend.’ I was like, ‘Holy shit!’ Cody Lambert told me, ‘If you go out there and you stay on everything,’ he said, ‘they’ll pay you, I promise.’ And he wasn’t wrong.”

T3. Kyler Oliver on GT-478E for 90.5 points, Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals Round 2

 
Kyler Oliver became the Cinderella story of the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals, coming out of nowhere to qualify for his first PBR World Finals. He went 2-for-3 to finish second overall in the event, and his 90.5-point ride on GT-478E won Round 2.

“There wasn’t that many points this year, and a lot of them got canceled, and so originally my plan was to try and make the Velocity Finals, and go and show out there and get a win or second, like I did, and be able to go to the Finals,” Oliver said at the time. “My original goal for this year was to make the Velocity Finals. I wanted to set that goal, and it was something that I knew I could probably achieve. And to be able to do that and get to go to the World Finals, I’m beyond happy and blessed.”

T5. Alex Cardozo on Buck Norris for 90 points, Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals Round 2

 
Alex Cardozo finished tied for third place at the Velocity Tour Finals, and his 90-point ride on Buck Norris was good for second place in Round 2. It was also the highest-scoring ride of his PBR career thus far.

T5. Cole Melancon on Let’s Gamble for 90 points, Denver PBR Chute Out at the National Western Stock Show Round 1

 
Cole Melancon’s season involved becoming the second rookie in PBR history to win a PBR Major, a Global Cup title with the Team USA Eagles and qualifying for his first PBR World Finals. In January, though, he was a fairly unknown rookie making his first full-time push in the PBR. His first major splash came at the Denver PBR Chute Out at the National Western Stock Show when his 90-point ride on Let’s Gamble won him Round 1.

T5. Jake Lockwood on Rag Doll for 90 points, Reno Rumble Round 1

 
While two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood has been a PBR stalwart since he burst onto the scene in 2016, brother Jake Lockwood started making a name for himself in 2020. He earned his first Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour win in January at the Reno Rumble and the first 90-point ride of his career when he rode Rag Doll for 90 points in Round 1.

T5. Lindomar Lino on Sledge Hammer for 90 points, Lexington Classic championship round

 
Lindomar Lino won his first event in two years, and his first Velocity Tour event in four years, when he tied with Cole Melancon for the event victory at the Lexington Classic. His 90-point ride on Sledge Hammer won the championship round and was his first 90-point ride on U.S. soil.

T5. Lucas Divino on Young Man’s Blues for 90 points, Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals Round 1

 
Lucas Divino had a breakout season in 2020, winning two Unleash The Beast events and finishing the season ranked No. 11 in the world. He finished sixth at the Velocity Tour Finals, riding Young Man’s Blues for 90 points to place second in Round 1.

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