After a huge round one last night, the excitement continued to grow as round two was set to take place here at the 2017 Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series World Finals. Looking back to 24-hours ago, it was not necessarily the thirteen qualified rides that we were able to witness but who those rides were made by and the significance they had in the 2017 season. There were a ton of storylines that came out of round one which would set us all up with anticipation for what we were going to see here tonight in round two. Three of the top five bull riders in the world standings were able to make qualified rides with Jess Lockwood winning the round to continue his late-season dominance while J.B. Mauney wound make his return to notch a qualified ride on his first bull back from major reconstruction surgery of his shoulder. If all that was not enough, 3-time PRCA Bull Riding World Champion Sage Kimzey would come into his first round at a PBR World Finals and put down a solid effort as well, sending him into tonight’s round two with a qualified ride that will make things very interesting later in the week!
Tonight would not be as easy as the ABBI Classic pen that these 40 bull riders saw last night as the rank eliminator pen takes center stage for the first of two showings here this week. This brings us to another world title race that has not been talked about as much with the World Champion Bucking Bull honors up for grabs. As all of us know, the two rounds of action we see these bovine athletes in can either make or break a shot at a world title at a moments notice. All this being said, tonight’s second round of the 2017 Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series World Finals should, once again, give all those watching here and at home another heart-pounding three hours of bull riding action as things begin here inside of the T-Mobile Arena in beautiful Las Vegas.
Jess Lockwood Earns Another 300 World Title Race Points With The Round Two Win
Photo Credit: Rokin’ K Photos/Jeana Wilson-Kilcrease
Last night, we were able to watch thirteen of the world’s best bull riders make a statement in round one while putting up qualified rides to begin their 2017 PBR World Finals event on a solid note. Tonight, those numbers would be nearly matched as many as those competing here this week would have their first chance at meeting the “rank eliminator” pen of bucking bulls for the first of two meetings throughout the five-day run. The main focus has been on the closest world title race in PBR history but there are some bovine athletes that are doing all they can to make their names known by claiming their own world title that is up for grabs. Along with the top contenders, the bull riders will face the rankest bucking bulls that they have seen throughout the year in one very round here tonight and again on Championship Sunday to round out the the 2017 PBR Built Ford Tough Series season.
Once the round began inside of the T-Mobile Arena, you could quickly get the feeling that round two would leave some of the top bull riders in the world heading to sports medicine to be worked on as the rank boys came to play in Sin City tonight! The world title race could be made or broken for any of the top ten bull riders in the world between tonight’s round and on Sunday afternoon. That being said, tonight, there were a solid 11 of the top bull riders in the world that would manage to be able to figure out this pen of bovine buckers to earn a qualified ride, getting by this set with a solid effort and earning a score. In round two it would be Jess Lockwood, for the second consecutive night, who would fair better than all others while earning a whopping 89.75 points aboard K-C Bucking Bulls / Spark-lin Acres’ Freak Of Nature to earn the round two win and the 300 world title race points that went along with it all while giving his bovine dance partner a 43.25 point bull score in the first of two appearances here this week! Be sure to check out all of our social media platforms as we post what the top ten in the world title race looks like nightly following each round of action.
Complete List Of Round Two Qualified Rides Listed Below:
Jess Lockwood (89.75) Claudio Montanha Jr. (87.50)
J.W. Harris (87.50) Gage Gay (86.75)
Jose Vitor Leme (86.50) Dener Barbosa (86.25)
Silvano Alves (86.25) Cody Nance (86.00)
Ryan Dirteater (86.00) Cody Teel (85.00)
Sweet Pro’s Bruiser Sits Atop The World Bucking Title Lead Following Tonight’s Second Round
Photo Credit: Rokin’ K Photos/Jeana Wilson-Kilcrease
We have been speaking all night regarding the pen of bucking bulls that were out tonight and the implications that this round could possibly have on the Bucking Bull World Title Race at the end of Sunday afternoon’s Championship Round. We could tell from the get-go tonight that each of these bucking bulls came into Las Vegas and the 2017 PBR World Finals event fresh and feeling 100% healthy, ready to give the cowboys a run for their money on Thursday night! Throughout the round the bull scores were impressive, to say the least, while giving those riders that managed to make it the to 8-second buzzer a huge score heading into tomorrow night’s third round, marking the half-way point of the 2017 Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series World Finals. Tonight’s action would be the fans in a frenzy and a buzz around town as the party took to the streets for a second night here in Las Vegas.
When we talk about what bucking bulls are in the world title race talk, two come to mind when everyone thinks about who it should be, and that is between two greats, Pearl Harbor and Sweet Pro’s Bruiser. These two are a couple of the very best animals that we have seen in recent memory and have been going at it all year long, turning in almost identical bull scores each time making tonight’s round a must need, break out performance. Coming into tonight, these two bovine athletes were separated by a mere .004 points making it a virtual tie with two performances to go. That being said, tonight Bruiser would edge out Pearl Harbor while earning a 47 point bull score, 1.25 points better than his contender making Sunday afternoon’s Championship Sunday round one that you will not want to miss!
Now that the 2017 Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series World Finals are well underway, we have been given our first looks at those competing for the first time at this event, both on the bucking bull and bull rider sides. We are also witnessing three of the closest title races in the history of the organization and look forward to seeing what is left in store for us over the next three days as well! Remember to visit our friends at the Fans Of The PBR – Behind The Chutes to get signed up to play the free World Finals Fantasy League to earn some great prizes and bragging rights. Along with that, tune into the Rodeo Round Up each day at 10 A.M. CST for our Rodeo Round Up LIVE daily pre-show that will feature special guests, fantasy league updates, round recaps and previews and chances to win some fun prizes just by tuning in each day during the 2017 PBR World Finals!
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