Edmonton, Alberta Saturday, October 26 at 7:00 P.M
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
2019 PBR Canada Monster Energy Tour Command Tubular Edmonton Classic Edmonton EXPO Centre –Edmonton, Alberta Saturday, October 26 at 7:00 p.m. MDT LAST STOP, EDMONTON – This weekend, for the second time in league history, PBR Canada’s Monster Energy Tour will buck into Edmonton, Alberta, and the Edmonton EXPO Centre with the Command Tubular Edmonton Classic on Saturday, October 26. Action for the tour’s final regular-season event gets underway at 7:00 p.m. MDT. GREEN GOES FOR GOLD – Last weekend in Abbotsford, Garrett Green won the first Canadian Monster Energy Tour event of his career, dominating both rounds of competition en route to claiming the Abbotsford Classic event title. After winning Round 1 with an 84.5-point trip on Mogely, the Albertan remained perfect when the tied for the championship round victory with 87.5 points aboard OMB Legal Issues. In addition to collecting $6,472.54 and 170 world points, Green also earned a crucial 530 Canadian points, allowing him to crack into the Top 10 in the nation, now ranked No. 7 and a mere 1,314.58 points behind No. 1 Dakota Buttar. The victory also allowed him to gain ground in the world rankings, now No. 57 and 441.66 points outside of the Top 35. For Green, the wins comes during a season where he’s been much more selective in the events he’s entered, both PBR and rodeo. In PBR competition the 27-year-old has entered just eight events, going a combined 13-for-20 (65%). In Edmonton, Green, the last rider out in Round 1, will attempt Red Jam of Vold Rodeo. PARSONAGE INCHES CLOSER – With Dakota Buttar stateside last weekend competing on the elite PBR Unleash The Beast, the door was open for Canadian No. 2 Jared Parsonage to reclaim the No. 1 ranking in Canada, a spot he had help for the majority of the season until he was overtaken on Sept. 13. As the defending Abbotsford Classic event winner, Parsonage entered the fourth Monster Energy Tour stop in the city 122.51 points behind Buttar, and with 550 points maximum available to one rider, had the chance to leave with a sizeable lead. And while Parsonage went a perfect 2-for-2, his fifth-place finish was not enough to eclipse Buttar, however did decimate his lead. Riding Semi Mental for 79.5 points in Round 1, an 8-second effort that he declined a re-ride for, and Grey Tower III for 86.5 points in the championship round, the Saskatchewan man left the Abbotsford Centre with 80 Canadian points, inching within 42.51 points of Buttar. With Buttar back on home soil this weekend, Parsonage will look to overtake his countryman when he attempts Boomerang in Round 1. RADFORD MAKES MOVES –For Brock Radford, the past two years have ended in heartbreak in Saskatoon, finishing No. 2 in the national standings in consecutive seasons. Relegated to the sidelines for the majority of the first half of 2019, Radford, however, returned more determined than ever during the summer to capture his first PBR Canada Championship. On July 4, the De Winton, Alberta-man made his return to competition at the Touring Pro Division stop in Calgary, however was unable to make the eight. After finishing 15th at the Calgary Stampede, his subsequent PBR event, Radford steadily began to climb the national standings by recording four Top 10 finishes in July, three in August and a runner-up effort in Grande Prairie, Alberta on October 5. Last weekend, Radford finished 1-point shy of claiming the second Monster Energy Tour event win of his career in Abbotsford. Going a perfect 2-for-2, including tying for the championship round win with an 87.5-point trip on Vold Rodeo’s Grey Eyes, Radford finished second to net 265 Canadian points. Entering the event No. 7 in the nation, the silver finish allowed him to climb one spot, now No. 6 in Canada, and within 1,285.83 points of No. 1 Dakota Buttar. Since his return to competition, Radford has gone an impressive 18-35 (51%) on Canadian soil. As he looks to continue his climb up the national standings, Radford will attempt Finning JB Muley in Round 1 in Edmonton. RIDERS TO WATCH FROM ABBOTSFORD – Looking further down the leaderboard from the Abbotsford Classic, two other riders made noteworthy moves following Top 5 finishes at the British Columbia event. Both delivering perfect 2-for-2 outings, Wacey Finkbeiner concluded the stop third, while Logan Biever was fourth. For Finkbeiner, who rode Speak Easy for 83 points and Kubota’s Big Orange Tractor for 86.5 points, his efforts earned him 153.33 Canadian points Twitter: @PBR, @InsidePBRPR #PBR Instagram: @PBR For more information visit www.pbr.com and allowed him to gain notable ground in the national title race. After beginning the Monster Energy Tour stop unranked, Finkbeiner rose to No. 45, now within 565 points of the Top 20 as he attempts to qualify for the fifth consecutive PBR Canada Finals of his career. For Biever, who covered OMB Full Sleeve for 81.5 points and Uptown Funk for 87 points, he cracked into the nation’s Top 20 courtesy of the 110 Canadian points he netted. Now No. 19 in the nation, he trails No. 1 Dakota Buttar by 1,990.83 points. In Round 1 of the Command Tubular Edmonton Classic, Finkbeiner will attempt Fired Up Freddy as the first man to leave the chutes, while Biever will face Dylans Devil. BUTTAR. IS. BACK – With the regular-season for the elite Unleash The Beast complete, Canadian No. 1 Dakota Buttar will have the opportunity to ride on home soil for the Command Tubular Edmonton Classic before returning stateside for the 2019 PBR World Finals on Nov. 6-10. And while the event will mark the first Monster Energy Tour event of his 2019 season, and first event on Canadian soil since mid-September, Buttar has been near unstoppable on the weekends he’s been able to ride in his home country. After sustaining what he thought was a season-ending shoulder injury in mid-April in Billings, Montana, the Kindersley, Saskatchewan man got news from his surgeon that he would indeed be able to ride the remainder of the 2019 season. On June 8, he made his return to competition, and season debut on Canadian soil, and has been on a tear since. Going an impressive 25-for-38 (65.79%) Buttar has earned a league-leading five event wins, in addition to an accompanying 10 Top-10 efforts. The impressive results led Buttar to go from unranked to overtaking the nation’s No. 1 ranking from Jared Parsonage, who held it the majority of the year, on Sept. 13 following his most recent Touring Pro Division win in St. Tite, Quebec. While Parsonage significantly cut into his lead last weekend in Abbotsford, where Buttar was unable to compete due to his Unleash The Beast obligations in Nampa, Idaho, he still holds a 42.51- point lead heading into the Edmonton event. In Round 1, Buttar will attempt Time Well Spent of Thompson Rodeo. TOP 10 GO TOE-TO-TOE – Only two events remain on Canadian soil prior to the 2019 PBR Monster Energy Canadian Finals, presented by Dakota Dunes Casino in Saskatoon on Nov. 22-23. Apart from this weekend’s final regular-season Monster Energy Tour event in Edmonton, the 2019 Canadian Touring Pro Division will conclude in Yorkton, Saskatchewan on Nov. 8-9. With a $50,000 bonus available to the season’s champion, one rider has the chance to earn a maximum 550 points in Edmonton, with an additional 350 available to one man in Yorkton, before an individual can earn a maximum 2,250 points in Saskatoon. With the stakes higher than ever, one has to look no further than the stacked Edmonton draw to see the fervor of the current national title race. Of the current Top 20, all of the Top 12 are slated to compete. While two men have the chance to overtake No. 1 Dakota Buttar for the top ranking, No. 2 Jared Parsonage (- 42.51) and No. 3 Shay Marks (-475), the door is open for the remaining riders to further hone in on the top contenders for the title. Beyond Buttar, Parsonage and Marks the Top 12 includes: No. 4 Jordan Hansen (-1,102.51), No. 5 Daylon Swearingen (-1,117.08), No. 6 Brock Radford (-1,285.83), No. 7 Garrett Green (-1,314.58), No. 8 Jake Gardner (- 1,525.83), No. 9 Lonnie West (-1,683.33), No. 10 Jackson Scott (-1,687.5), No. 11 Aaron Roy (-1,772.5) and No. 12 Todd Chotowetz (-1,803.33). VEGAS IS CALLING – With the 2019 PBR Canada Finals (Nov. 22-23) set to take place following the 2019 PBR World Finals (Nov. 6-10), the Canadian invite to the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals (Nov. 2-3) will be the top- ranked rider in the Canadian national standings following the Command Tubular Edmonton Classic. Playing host to the final opportunity riders have to earn points towards the national standings prior to the cutoff, the pressure is on to earn the coveted bid in Edmonton, awarded to Brock Radford in 2018. With the invite, the rider will compete alongside representatives from each of the other international territories, with the top finisher from the contingent subsequently earning a berth to the PBR World Finals. In 2017, Brazil’s Jose Vitor Leme advanced via the Velocity Finals, then stunned the world in going a perfect 6-for-6 to capture the 2017 PBR Rookie of the Year honor and 2017 PBR World Finals event win.