American Roots Edition PBR Monster Energy Invitational Southeastern Livestock Pavilion – Ocala, Florida Saturday, January 16 at 2:00 P.M
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2020 PBR Unleash The Beast: American Roots Edition PBR Monster Energy Invitational Southeastern Livestock Pavilion – Ocala, Florida Saturday, January 16 at 2:00 p.m. ET Sunday, January 17 at 2:00 p.m. ET AND SO IT BEGINS – For the first time in league history, the elite PBR Unleash The Beast will travel to Ocala, Florida, opening the 2021 season at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion with the PBR Monster Energy Invitational January 16-17. In addition to marking the first event of the new season, the Sunshine State tour stop will also begin the premier series’ highly anticipated American Roots Edition, a limited series of events scheduled to be held in historic outdoor venues and longstanding rodeo communities across the south. Action in Ocala will get underway on both Saturday, January 16 and Sunday, January 17 at 2:00 p.m. ET. NEW YEAR, NEW FORMAT – Ahead of the launch of the 2021 PBR Unleash The Beast season, the league has announced a major format change for the premier series, introducing one-day competitions, which will create daily winners, further intensifying the race for the PBR World Championship and accompanying $1 million bonus. The format change affords the riders more opportunities to earn world points, while guaranteeing that fans will see a winner every time they attend or tune-in to an Unleash The Beast tour stop. For every premier series event, each calendar day of action will constitute a competition. Each competition will be comprised of two rounds. The Top 30 riders in the world will attempt one bull each in Round 1 of the competition, with the Top 12 advancing to the championship round. If fewer than 12 qualified rides are logged in the first round, the remaining positions will be filled on buck off time. Riders will be awarded world points for their finish in each round and the competition aggregate. The rider with the most world points at the conclusion of each competition will be crowned the competition winner. One rider will have the chance to earn a maximum 140 world points at each competition. At the conclusion of each weekend of action, the rider with the most world points earned across all the competitions will be anointed the event winner, presented with a Montana Silversmith’s belt buckle and a $10,000 bonus. The event winner will not receive additional world points. PBR has also increased the number of world points available at the World Finals for the upcoming season. One rider will now be able to earn a maximum of 2,160 world points at the five-day World Finals, further intensifying the 2021 World Championship race. The new points tables are as follows: 2021 UTB COMPETITION POINTS 2021 PBR WORLD FINALS POINTS PLACE ROUND POINTS AGG. POINTS ROUND POINTS AGG. POINTS 1 30 80 160 1,200 2 20 50 85 750 3 15 30 70 550 4 10 20 60 350 5 9 15 55 300 6 8 10 50 250 7 7 8 40 200 8 6 7 30 150 Twitter: @PBR, @InsidePBRPR #PBR Instagram: @PBR For more information visit www.pbr.com 9 5 6 20 100 10 4 5 15 75 11 3 4 10 50 12 2 3 5 25 LEME CAPS DOMINANT 2020 WITH WORLD TITLE – After blazing onto the PBR scene in 2017, winning the World Finals, Jose Vitor Leme further etched his name into the league record books in 2020, earning the World Championship after a seemingly unstoppable season. Winning a league-leading seven events and 16 rounds, Leme also notched nine 90-point rides, including the top two scores of the season, en route to the coveted gold buckle. Going a torrid 44-for-65, Leme covered an awe-inspiring 67.69% of the planet’s rankest bulls. Atop the world standings for the majority of the season, Leme clinched the PBR World Championship after winning Round 3 of the season-culminating event with his career-best score. Matched up with Barker Bulls’ Woopaa, the Brazilian phenom reached the 8 for a Brent Thurman/Lane Frost Award-winning 95.75 points as the socially-distanced crowd inside AT&T Stadium erupted in raucous cheer. In the league’s 27-year history, Leme is the 19th different rider – and seventh Brazilian – to claim the PBR World Champion gold buckle. His title is the eleventh time a rider from the nation of Brazil has won what’s been called the most difficult individual championship in professional sports. In Round 1 of the first competition for the season-launch PBR Monster Energy Invitational, Leme will attempt Dirty Sancho as he attempts to become just the second back-to-back PBR World Champion in league history. TAYLOR GATHERS EARLY MOMENTUM – For Mason Taylor, the 2020 season ended as the Texan was gathering momentum. Winning the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals en route to capturing the expansion series’ 2020 Championship, Taylor concluded the season with his second qualification to the PBR World Finals where he finished a career- best 17th. Quick to return to PBR action, Taylor rode at the Touring Pro Division event in Fort Worth, Texas on January 1, riding in near picture-perfect form. Going a perfect 2-for-2, Taylor reached the 8 on Night Stalker for 88 points before covering CIDO 545 for 89 points to clinch the event title. Earning 15 world points, Taylor is ranked inside the Top 10 in the early 2021 world rankings, presently tied for No. 7. In Round 1 of the first competition for the PBR Monster Energy Invitational, Taylor has drawn Kickstart My Heart. WHITEHORSE WOWS AT WORLD FINALS – The 2020 PBR World Finals were career-defining for 2018 PBR Rookie of the Year Keyshawn Whitehorse. Ranked No. 26 at the start of the season-culminating event, Whitehorse delivered a monstrous 3-for-5 performance, with each of his rides marked in excess of 90 points, to finish a career-best second and surge to No. 7 in the world. Having never before earned a 90-point score on the premier series, Whitehorse first put up the marks in Round 2 of the World Finals when he covered Rocky for 91 points. After again going for 90 the following day, covering Sketer Peter for 90 points, Whitehorse concluded the World Finals with a career-best 93.75-point score on Chiseled, winning the championship round. Eager to continue his momentum, Whitehorse will first attempt Slamming Gears in Ocala. FAMILIAR WATERS – In Round 1 of the first competition for the season-launch PBR Monster Energy Invitational, four riders will face rematches, with just one having previously made the 8. Slated to attempt Constant Sorrow for the second time in his career, Kaique Pacheco covered the bovine athlete in October 2020 for 86.5 points during the annual tour stop in Oklahoma. The remaining trio will be looking to cover their draw for the first time. Cody Teel will climb aboard Shownuff for the fourth time. First meeting in August 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee, Shownuff got the better of Teel, dispatching him in a swift 2.93 seconds. Less than a year later, the two again danced on the premier series, this time in Little Rock, Arkansas with Teel lasting a slightly longer 4.39 seconds. Their most recent showdown was in October 2019 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Remaining perfect against his rider opponent, Shownuff again bucked off Teel, sending the Texan to the dirt in 5.44 seconds. Lucas Divino has also attempted his Round 1 draw of the opening competition multiple times. Twice paired up with Joker, after the bovine athlete got the better of him in quick 1.73 seconds in Greensboro in 2019, the Brazilian nearly made the 8 in January 2020 in New York City, bucked off in a heartbreaking 7.84 seconds. Two-time PBR World Champion J.B. Mauney is the final rider who will look to avenge a buckoff in the first round of the first night of action. Slated to attempt Slingin Tears, Mauney bucked off the bull in Round 4 of the 2020 PBR World Finals, narrowly bested in 7.43 seconds. BULL PEN – This weekend’s bull pen will be headlined by K-C Bucking Bulls’ pen of 15 and Cord McCoy’s deep roster of eight bovine athletes. Hailing from Mt. Orab, Ohio, K-C’s roster is led by Big Black who concluded the 2020 season ranked No. 22 in the world. The powerful animal athlete capped his third full season of Unleash The Beast action with two trips at the PBR World Finals. First marked 44.75 points in Round 2 for his 1.88-second buckoff of Derek Kolbaba, Big Black concluded Twitter: @PBR, @InsidePBRPR #PBR Instagram: @PBR For more information visit www.pbr.com the year in Round 4 of the season-culminating event with a 5.88-second trip with Ryan Dirteater to earn a season-best 45-point bull score. During the regular-season Big Black also earned a 45-point score once, delivering the marks in March in Duluth, Georgia when he teamed with Mauricio Gulla Moreira for a 91.25-point score. Other standouts from the Buckeye State outfit include Preachers Kid and Appers Mind Freak, named in honor of the late Mary Apper who passed away on Thursday, January 14 following a battle with cancer. Making the trek to the Sunshine State from Oklahoma, McCoy’s rank contingent is championed by Ridin’ Solo, who finished runner-up to the 2020 ABBI Classic Championship after a dominant season when the bull earned $120,091.57 in competition.