Elder Statesman Nance Eyeing First PBR Major Victory
By: Justin Felisko
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Cody Nance turned around the corner of rider walk-off on Monday night to head back to the locker room at Frontier Park Arena at Cheyenne Frontier Days before a longtime friend hollered at him.
“Great ride, cowboy,” two-time World Champion J.B. Mauney said with a big grin before taking a sip of his Coors Light silver bullet.
Mauney is in town to compete at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo later this week. The future Ring of Honor inductee was in attendance to watch some of the action at Last Cowboy Standing, including Nance’s 88-point ride on Oz in Round 1 of the PBR Major.
“That was really cool,” Nance said. “J.B.’s the champ. I admire that guy, his toughness and his riding ability. He may not be the most durable guy, but he makes up for it in toughness and effort.”
With Mauney deciding to focus on his run at his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualification and potentially a 2021 PRCA bull riding championship, that makes Nance one of the lone remaining elder statesmen of the Unleash The Beast locker room.
Nance and three-time World Champion Silvano Alves lead all active UTB competitors with 11 World Finals qualifications.
“Everybody wants to win,” Nance said. “I’ve been here a lot of times, probably a lot more than some of these other guys. So those first-time jitters, second-time jitters, all that’s out of the way. For me, as a veteran, you show up and ride bulls and don’t worry about nothing else. If you win, you win. If you don’t, you don’t.”
Nance knows he is in the twilight of his career, and he still wants to check off a few items on his to-do list.
The Paris, Tennessee native has competed at multiple Last Cowboy Standings and in Cheyenne before. Getting a buckle that says Last Cowboy Standing champion in a historical place such as Cheyenne would be something Nance would not take for granted in his 13th season.
“This is the greatest event of the year, for me,” Nance said. “I love this event. I’ve been here several times. Every time you come here, you want to walk away with that buckle. It would be amazing. What a blessing that would be. But you’ve got to ride your bulls one at a time, and that’s just what I’m trying to do. I’m just having fun.”
Nance finished Round 1 in third place with his season-high-tying 88 points on Oz.
“I had no idea what that bull was doing,” Nance said. “There was a couple times I felt like leaned way back, and his timing was off, but I just kept bearing down and trying to just know that, like, ‘Keep riding. Keep riding. No matter what, keep riding.’ And thank god it worked out, I got out safe, and we’ll be back tomorrow.”
Nance has drawn Oilfield Outlaw’s Yellow Feather (3-1, UTB) for Round 2.
There were 11 qualified rides in Round 1, so 14 additional riders were brought back on world standings ranking as of July 19 for the second round.
The Top 8 riders via aggregate score following the second round will then advance to Round 3.
Round 4 will then consist of the Top 4 riders in the aggregate based upon the previous three rounds.
Round 5 will feature every rider that posted a qualified ride in Round 4. A minimum of two riders will compete in Round 5. If only one rider covers in Round 4, then the PBR will bring back one rider (based on aggregate scores following Round 4).
The rider with the highest score in Round 5 will win the title of Last Cowboy Standing. If all riders buck off in Round 5, then the LCS crown will go to the rider with the highest aggregate score among those that attempted a bull in Round 5.
The winner of Last Cowboy Standing will earn 150 points toward the world standings and a minimum of $75,000.
Nance is now ranked No. 22 in the world standings and is one step closer to qualifying for a 12th PBR World Finals on Nov. 3-7 after seeing his steak of 11 in a row come to an end last year.
“I want that World Finals championship,” Nance concluded. “I was thinking about it this week, I’m like, ‘Man, if I just treat every event like I’m going to the Finals, when I get to the Finals, it’ll be the same thing.’”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
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