Sports
CLAYTON SELLERS CROWNED 2022 PBR BENDLETON WHISKY VELOCITY TOUR CHAMPION
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – As the climactic 2022 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Season wound to a close Saturday evening in Corpus Christi, Clayton Sellars (Fruitland Park, Florida) reached a critical career milestone. Going a near-flawless 2-for-3 at the PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals, presented by Coastal Bend Chevy Dealers, Sellars was crowned the 2022 PBR Velocity Tour Champion.
“The start of the season was rough, To fight through it and get through the adversity and get to the top is astronomically important for me.”
clayton sellars
Sellars, however, wasn’t the only rider with cause to celebrate when the dust settled inside American Bank Center Arena. Not only did Cody Jesus (Window Rock, Arizona) earn the coveted title of PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals winner, but young gun Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York) delivered a third-place finish at the expansion series’ season-end event to catapult to the world No. 1 rank with just days remaining before the start of the 2022 PBR World Finals.
Five riders also punched their tickets to the PBR World Finals via their efforts at the event and overall tour standings. Those five riders are Brandon Davis (Cabot, Arkansas), Casey Coulter (Kirksville, Missouri), Josh Frost (Randlett, Utah), Ednei Caminhas (Indaiatuba, Brazil) and Alex Cardozo (Indaiatuba, Brazil).
“It felt really good, I’m here to ride bulls and do my job. I’m glad I’m finally doing it.”
Cody Jesus
At age 46, 2002 PBR World Champion Caminhas is now the oldest rider to ever qualify for the PBR World Finals. He dethrones previous recordholder Wallace Vieira de Oliveira (Goiania, Brazil), who reached the World Finals via the Velocity Tour Finals in 2020 at age 41.
Sellars, who began the Velocity Tour Finals ranked No. 15 in the standings, 23.25 points removed from the top spot, began his event in less-than-ideal fashion, bucked off by Bentley (Viducic Bucking Bulls/Wyatt Bridge) in a hard-fought 7.72 seconds.
The charismatic Floridian, however, rebounded in near-picture-perfect fashion on Championship Saturday.
Quick to strike in Round 2, Sellars narrowly punched his ticket to the final round when he bested Dan Post’s Night Moves (Cord McCoy/David Wolfe) for 88.5 points.
Sellars then continued his momentum as he went head-to-head against Harold’s Genuine Risk (M Rafter E Bucking Bulls). As the first man to leave the chutes in the final round, Sellars brought the raucous crowd to its feet when he delivered the top score of the round, marked 87.5 points.
Finishing second overall in the event, Sellars collected 59.33 world points and catapulted to the No. 1 position in the Velocity Tour standings, leading No. 2 Jesus by 5.08 points. Including his $50,000 bonus for being crowned the 2022 PBR Velocity Tour Champion, Sellars took home a career-best $73,750 payday.
The finish also allowed Sellars to gain significant ground in the race for the 2022 PBR Rookie of the Year honor. While he remained No. 2 in the standings, he more than halved Bob Mitchell’s (Steelville, Missouri) lead, climbing within 38.92 points of the top spot.
Sellars will travel to his first-ever PBR World Finals ranked No. 21 in the world, climbing five spots after beginning the Velocity Tour Finals ranked No. 26.
Jesus earned the title of 2022 PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals winner courtesy of a near-perfect 2-for-3 showing in Corpus Christi.
The Navajo sensation began the event with a third-place effort in Round 1, covering Blue on Black (Tom Baker Bucking Bulls) for 87 points.
As the second round got underway, Jesus delivered the high-marked ride of the event, outlasting Johnny Rocket (Rick Carr/Gene Baker) for a monstrous 91 points.
Despite being bucked off in the final round, dispatched by King Brute (Crooked Crown Bucking Bulls/Braswell Bucking Bulls) in a heartbreaking 6.91 seconds, Jesus’s scores in the opening rounds of competition were enough to keep him atop the event leaderboard.
Jesus’s golden finish earned him a check for $29,250 and 82 world points. He rose from No. 33 to No. 26 in the world standings.
The 2022 PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals, presented by Coastal Bend Chevy Dealers, also played a significant hand in shaping the race for the 2022 PBR World Championship.
Earning 41.33 points for his third-place finish, Swearingen leapfrogged Joao Ricardo Vieira (Itatinga, Brazil) in the world standings, now No. 1 in the world by 8.99 points.
Swearingen earned the bronze finish compliments of his 2-for-2 showing on Championship Saturday. He rode Aces & Eights (Paradigm/Hilton Bull Co.) for 88.5 points in Round 2 and Nomad Max (Crooked Crown Bucking Bulls/Braswell Bucking Bulls) for 86 points in the championship round.
The 2022 PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals also included two rounds of the American Bucking Bull Inc. (ABBI) Derby and Limited Classic competition that included 74 of the top 3- and 4-year-old up-and-coming bulls. The Derby and Classic competitions are the transition from bucking with a dummy to bucking under a bull rider. When ABBI bulls graduate from the Futurity system, they are then classed as 3-year-old Derby bulls, and these young bovines begin the process of learning to buck with a rider.
Huckleberry (Buckin Fun Group/Red Laces) was crowned Derby Champion with 89.84 points to win more than $8,800. Chad Prather’s Political Cowboy (Chad Prather/Boots for Troops/CG Bucking Bulls) notched 88.96 points to finish second and net $5,600, while Bandit (D&H Cattle/Flinn) rounded out the Top 3 in third with 88.48 points for more than $4,000.
Sammy (Dorman/Weaver/Hilton Bull Co.) took the top spot in the Limited Classic with an 89.28-point performance, earning a paycheck for more than $8,000. Gold Chain (Young Cattle/D&H Cattle) posted 88.56 points for a second-place finish and just over $5,200. With 87.7 points, The People’s Champ (Cord McCoy/James/Dittman) landed third place for just under $4,000.
PBR RidePass on Pluto TV will offer re-airs and on-demand replays of the 2022 PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals. PBR RidePass is available on desktops, laptops and mobile devices via www.pluto.tv. Tune to channel 720 for the latest programming schedule, and click here for on-demand PBR programming.
The 2022 PBR World Finals will get underway Friday, May 13, with Round 1 starting at 6:45 p.m. CST at Dickies Arena Arena. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com and PBR.com, at the Dickies Arena Box Office, or by calling PBR customer service at 1-800-732-1727.
For a complete schedule of events that will be held during the 2022 PBR World Finals, visit FortWorth.com/pbr.
Stay tuned to PBR.com for the latest news and results and be sure to follow the league on all social media platforms at @PBR.
PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour
PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals, presented by Coastal Bend Chevy Dealers
American Bank Center Arena – Corpus Christi, Texas
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Cody Jesus, 87-91-0-178.00-82 Points.
2. Clayton Sellars, 0-88.5-87.5-176.00-59.33 Points.
3. Daylon Swearingen, 0-88.5-86-174.50-41.33 Points.
4. Josh Frost, 85.5-88-0-173.50-26.5 Points.
5. Ednei Caminhas, 85.5-87.5-0-173.00-21.5 Points.
6. Bob Mitchell, 85-85-0-170.00-13 Points.
7. Dener Barbosa, 82-86.5-0-168.50-5.5 Points.
8. Koltin Hevalow, 84-75.5-0-159.50-1 Points.
9. Dustin Martinez, 90-0-0-90.00-15 Points.
10. Brandon Davis, 89.5-0-0-89.50-8 Points.
11. Casey Coulter, 0-88.5-0-88.50-6.33 Points.
12. Grayson Cole, 0-86.5-0-86.50-0.5 Points.
13. Silvano Alves, 0-86-0-86.00
14. Luciano De Castro, 0-85.5-0-85.50
15. Alisson De Souza, 82.5-0-0-82.50
16. Dakota Louis, 82-0-0-82.00
João Ricardo Vieira, 0-0-0-0.00
Eli Vastbinder, 0-0-0-0.00
Mason Taylor, 0-0-0-0.00
Eduardo Aparecido, 0-0-0-0.00
Manoelito de Souza Junior, 0-0-0-0.00
Lucas Divino, 0-0-0-0.00
Ramon de Lima, 0-0-0-0.00
Matt Triplett, 0-0-0-0.00
Brady Oleson, 0-0-0-0.00
Alex Marcilio, 0-0-0-0.00
Adriano Salgado, 0-0-0-0.00
Conner Halverson, 0-0-0-0.00
Alex Cardozo, 0-0-0-0.00
Lane Nobles, 0-0-0-0.00
Griffin Smeltzer, 0-0-0-0.00
Boudreaux Campbell, 0-0-0-0.00
Taylor Toves, 0-0-0-0.00
Francisco Morales, 0-0-0-0.00
Elijah Mora, 0-0-0-0.00
Tye Chandler, 0-0-0-0.00
Marcos Gloria, 0-0-0-0.00
Michael Lane, 0-0-0-0.00
Dawson Branton, 0-0-0-0.00
Paulo Ferreira Lima, 0-0-0-0.00
Blake Smith, 0-0-0-0.00
Fernando Henrique Novais, 0-0-0-0.00
Trace Brown, 0-0-0-0.00
Cladson Rodolfo, 0-0-0-0.00
Wyatt Rogers, 0-0-0-0.00
Hunter Ball, 0-0-0-0.00
Venn Johns, 0-0-0-0.00
2022 PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5’s, Points, Total Winnings)
1. Clayton Sellars, 6, 0, 4, 116.08, $89,864.22
2. Cody Jesus, 1, 1, 1, 111.00, $29,250.00
3. Brandon Davis, 8, 1, 3, 86.50, $20,517.10
4. Daylon Swearingen, 2, 0, 1, 85.33, $15,750.00
5. Casey Coulter, 10, 1, 4, 82.83, $18,564.51
6. Griffin Smeltzer, 13, 1, 4, 80.00, $16,517.66
7. Elijah Mora, 11, 1, 3, 77.50, $15,969.91
8. Michael Lane, 9, 1, 3, 76.00, $15,619.25
9. Matt Triplett, 5, 1, 3, 73.50, $15,595.75
10. Josh Frost, 7, 0, 3, 71.16, $26,820.46
11. Bob Mitchell, 6, 0, 3, 70.00, $19,915.78
12. Taylor Toves, 11, 1, 2, 66.00, $13,852.57
13. Dakota Louis, 8, 1, 2, 64.75, $13,308.78
14. Brady Oleson, 3, 1, 2, 64.00, $15,714.38
15. Grayson Cole, 14, 1, 2, 62.50, $12,385.41
16. Lucas Divino, 11, 0, 3, 62.00, $15,296.89
17. Dustin Martinez, 11, 0, 2, 60.50, $15,121.33
18. Marcos Gloria, 10, 1, 2, 59.83, $13,339.00
19. Francisco Morales, 10, 1, 2, 58.99, $12,008.00
20. Ednei Caminhas, 8, 0, 2, 57.83, $12,948.55
21. Conner Halverson, 12, 0, 4, 56.50, $12,702.51
21. Eduardo Aparecido, 4, 1, 2, 56.50, $14,246.50
23. Fernando Henrique Novais, 10, 0, 3, 56.00, $12,189.50
24. Lane Nobles, 8, 1, 2, 55.00, $24,834.48
25. Paulo Ferreira Lima, 6, 1, 2, 52.00, $10,525.49
25. Tye Chandler, 9, 1, 2, 52.00, $11,161.00
27. Boudreaux Campbell, 3, 1, 1, 51.00, $13,620.98
28. Adriano Salgado, 8, 1, 2, 49.50, $10,431.39
28. Ramon de Lima, 6, 1, 2, 49.50, $10,616.90
28. Blake Smith, 12, 0, 3, 49.50, $14,631.13
31. Trace Brown, 14, 0, 4, 48.00, $12,137.95
32. Wyatt Rogers, 3, 1, 2, 46.75, $14,711.07
33. Hunter Ball, 13, 0, 2, 45.75, $10,052.31
34. Alisson De Souza, 9, 0, 2, 45.50, $8,567.98
35. Koltin Hevalow, 5, 1, 1, 45.00, $10,640.02
36. Cladson Rodolfo, 16, 1, 2, 44.50, $8,407.80
36. Alex Marcilio, 10, 0, 2, 44.50, $9,703.34
38. Dawson Branton, 6, 0, 3, 43.50, $9,321.33
39. Venn Johns, 12, 1, 1, 39.83, $8,855.50
40. Dakota Eagleburger, 15, 0, 2, 39.00, $8,402.63
41. João Henrique Lucas, 3, 1, 1, 38.50, $7,925.50
42. Eli Vastbinder, 1, 0, 0, 37.66, $150.00
43. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 2, 1, 1, 35.50, $7,199.50
44. Cody Casper, 12, 0, 2, 35.00, $7,772.50
45. Ky Hamilton, 8, 0, 1, 33.00, $4,920.28
PROVIDED COURTESY OF PBR TO TENN TEXAS MEDIA
