Vieira Quickly Looks Ready for Another World Title Push
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – Joao Ricardo Vieira was almost 15 years old when Kyler Oliver was born on July 22, 1999, but there he was this weekend right on the heels of the PBR Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden victor.
It is only one weekend, but Vieira, a 10-year PBR veteran, looks to once again be poised to make a run at the PBR World Championship despite being 37 years old.
Vieira went a perfect 3-for-3 inside Madison Square Garden for a second-place finish and 139 world points, highlighted by a 90.5-point ride on Marquis Metal Works Red Clark on Saturday night, and he will head into this week’s Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour event in Denver ranked No. 2 in the world standings.
The 2013 PBR Rookie of the Year looked good as new in the Big Apple. Vieira began the two-day PBR Major with 85.5 points on Just Denim on Friday night. He then kept the momentum going Saturday by riding Peep Show for 85.5 points in Round 2.
Vieira then became just the second rider in 22 attempts to successfully ride Red Clark to cap off an impressive season debut in New York.
Rounding out the Top 5 in New York behind Oliver and Vieira was Alex Cardozo (3-for-3, 285.25, 106.5 world points), Andrew Alvidrez (2-for-3, 175.5, 76 world points) and Austin Richardson (2-for-3, 175, 73 world points).
Vieira is coming off his third consecutive Top-5 finish in the world standings and seventh Top-5 in nine seasons. Vieira finished fourth in the 2021 world title race after posting a career-high seven 90-point rides including a personal best of 93 points on I’m Legit Too, after beginning 2021 with only 21 90-point rides in his previous eight seasons.
The nine-time PBR World Finals qualifier missed the season-opener in Indianapolis last weekend, but he is 6-for-6 in 2022 after going 3-for-3 to win the PBR Brazil event in Jaguariuna, Brazil in December.
On a weekend where seven of the 12 riders in the championship round had never even been in a championship round before, there was the old veteran standing beside them once again.
Three-time World Champion Adriano Moraes is the oldest World Champion in PBR history at 36 years old.
Vieira has no plans of slowing down either in the sprint that is the 2022 World Championship race, as he is tentatively scheduled to ride at the Denver PBR Chute Out at the National Western Stock Show on Tuesday night and has drawn Drinking Lean (0-0). The Denver VT event is a three-day competition. Forty-five riders will compete on Monday night and an additional 45 will ride on Tuesday. The Top 30 riders will then advance to compete on Wednesday night.
Other noteworthy riders in the initial draw for Denver include No. 4 Daylon Swearingen, No. 8 Andrew Alvidrez, No. 9 Austin Richardson, No. 12 Manoelito de Souza Jr., No. 14 Chase Outlaw, No. 17 Keyshawn Whitehorse, No. 17 Cole Melancon, No. 23 Leonardo Lima, No. 25 Stetson Lawrence, three-time World Champion Silvano Alves, 2012 PRCA champion Cody Teel and 2020 PBR World Finals event winner Boudreaux Campbell.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
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