Ep. 27 - NFR Round 4 Recap
December 9, 2019 (Las Vegas, Nevada) - It was Round 4 of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and things got a little western! Join us as we chat about maximum time requirements, how our podcast guests are faring, the history of the NFR in Las Vegas, and then our event recaps. First time NFR qualifier Nellie Miller has been the most consistent for 2019, making the her the maybe Cinderella story of 2019 and the fans are here for it! Also a Cinderella story? Tie down rookies Shad Mayfield and Haven Meged, as well as first time NFR Qualifier Taylor Santos.
Round 4 Quiz Questions
Our daily quizzes involve current rodeo facts, NFR happenings, rodeo terminology and history!
While we had hoped that the number would be higher meaning that Powder River Rodeo company would have received their first round buckles of 2019, the cards haven’t laid out in that way as of yet!
Idaho bull rider Garrett Smith, got the Round 2 win with a 91.5 point ride and has a 50% ride rate as of Round 4. Sitting 7th in the projected average and projected world standings, our fingers are crossed that he can keep moving up the line to catch Boudreaux Campbell and Sage Kimzey.
The answer is 60 seconds which caught most of you off guard - maybe because Michael Otero in the Tie Down Roping got flagged out on the tie with his second rope in Round 4 for hitting the maximum time limit of 25 seconds.
Las Vegas Events moved the NFR to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1985 when they offered the PRCA a monetary contract opportunity that they couldn’t say no too. At the time, it was pretty controversial to move the NFR from Oklahoma!
Day money is money paid to all the qualified rides in the bull riding. We will discuss this further down in our Round 4 PRCA Rule addition, modification or removal section!
What questions do you have about the PRCA, the NFR, Miss Rodeo America, Cowboy Christmas, etc.? Write in.
Will breakaway be added in the next few years?
Was American Hat Company teasing us with an opportunity?? If you follow American Hat Co. or Jackie Hobbs Crawford on Instagram, there was a definite hint that there may be something in the works! While most fans believe that breakaway’s addition to the WPRA contract with the PRCA seems inevitable, we think this will be a podcast conversation for after the NFR is over when we can get into the nitty gritty details of that contract with guest interviews after Round 10.
Round 4 Event Recap
Bareback
Canadian cowboy Orin Larson got his first round win of the 2019 NFR with a 90 point ride on Frontier Rodeo’s Night Fist.
Trenton Montero, who arrived in Vegas 14th in the World Standings, is have a DECENT NFR. He’s covered all four rounds with checks in three of those that include a Round 2 win! He’s currently sitting first in the projected average AND has moved from 14th to 8th to now 6th in the projected world standings!
Steer Wrestling
Bridger Chambers won Round 4 with a 3.6 second run.
There was some controversy over Tanner’s run where broadcaster and former steer wrestling World Champion Luke Branquinho thought that the judge made a bad call. Luke brought up the instant replay/flag for review idea that we talked about in the Round 3 podcast.
Team Roping
Chad Masters and Joseph Harrison had a 3.7 second run to win the Round.
Proctor and Motes showed up in a big way with a 3.8 second run, which was probably a much needed confidence boost. Blasingame had a missed headshot, it actually looked like his rope hooked on something outside of the box meaning that he had to restart his swing and he ultimately ended up missing. Too bad there wasn’t an instant replay for this event as well!
Travis Graves showed up with Dillon, the most anticipated Appaloosa to make an appearance at any rodeo! Dillon was the horse that Jr. Dees won the BFI heeling on earlier this summer. We can’t wait to see him crack this horse out again, he looked cool and collected in the box despite the excitement of the Thomas & Mack. Unfortunately, his header missed so we didn’t get to see Dillon in actually but hopefully we get a chance in Round 5.
Saddle Bronc
Rusty Wright took the round win with an 89.5 point ride. It was another tough night in the saddle bronc with a lot of riders missing their mark out. One who had their mark out waived was Spencer Wright though, that was due to his horse hanging up in the chute a little bit so they waived that for him and he got an 84.5 point ride as a result. Six of the fourteen guys left got a score and, unfortunately, the toll of ten rounds of the best broncs in the world has started to take effect as Bradley Harter was out for an injury in Round 4 - the first contestant to have to do so, so far.
Tie Down Roping
The 2013 World Champion Shane Hanchey got ANOTHER round win in Round 4 with a 7.2 second run. A lot of contestants found themselves roping far down the pen, such as Tuf Cooper, Tyson Durfey and Shad Mayfield. Mayfield had to use his second loop and so did Michael Otero who, as we mentioned earlier, was flagged out for hitting that 25 second time mark.
The projected one through three in the world is first time NFR qualifier Taylor Santos, Marty Yates, and rookie Haven Meged. Tie down roping could get real interesting over the next six rounds!
Barrel Racing
Emily. Miller. And. Chongo.
Two names you need to know about consistency at the NFR in 2019! The first time NFR qualifier and her beautiful gray horse Chongo are barely varied on their time stamp at the end of each round and, as a result, she picked up her SECOND round win in Round 4.
To even be considered for making money this year, barrel racers have to be under 14 seconds and something that is factoring into that is the footing. It is very apparent, even to those of us at home, that the ground is only holding up for the top half of the draw.
Bull Riding
Stetson Wright got his first round win in the bull riding with a 91 point ride on Painted Pony Championship Rodeo’s Holy Holly and he NEEDED that to stay alive in the bull riding world title race AND the all round world title race. Tuf Cooper has moved to second in that race and this money just helped Stetson put a cushion on his huge lead upon arriving in Vegas. Stetson is also sitting 4th in the projected average and, if he wants to take on five-time World Champion and future hall of famer Sage Kimzey, he’s going to have to beat him in that average race. Sage Kimzey knows, however, that Stetson is going to have to go through him first!
One PRCA Rule Change, Remove or Create
On every podcast episode we ask our guests for one rule that they would change, remove or create to the PRCA or WPRA. Keeping up with tradition, we are sharing our thoughts or our fans’ suggestions on each episode of the NFR Podcast rounds.
Based off of the trivia question, we are saying day money FOR ALL EVENTS is our PRCA rule change suggestion. At events like the Thomas & Mac, you EXPECT contestants to have rides and qualified times. However, that isn’t always the case when you’re taking risks to bring home gold. With that being said, especially in the bronc riding, we think that the day money should all be used, even if it doesn’t count for the all around.