CASSIO DIAS, 2-FOR-2 INSIDE COWTOWN COLISEUM, EXTENDS LEAD IN RACE FOR THE 2024 PBR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WITH EXHILARATING THIRD-PLACE EFFORT IN ROUND 2 OF THE WORLD FINALS – ELIMINATIONS IN FORT WORTH TEXAS
Young gun Kaiden Loud wins Round 2 with first monster 90-point ride of the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast to crack the Top 10 in the premier series standings
FORT WORTH, Texas – As the historic 2024 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Finals: Unleash The Beast continued Friday evening in Fort Worth, Texas, Cassio Dias (Sao F. de Sales, Brazil) inched closer to being crowned the 2024 World Champion, delivering a third-place effort in Round 2 of Eliminations to extend his lead in the standings.
While Dias is atop the world standings, leading No. 2 Eduardo Aparecido (Gouvelandia, Brazil), by 596.33 points, he trails young gun Kaiden Loud (Kaufman, Texas) in the event title battle. The 19-year-old sensation delivered the first 90-point ride of the 2024 PBR World Finals to overtake the lead in Eliminations by winning Round 2.
“I’ve wanted to do this ever since I was little,” Loud said from the dirt inside the venue that hosted the very first PBR event in 1993. “It means a lot for me to be here right now. I’ll just keep getting on and working at it.”
During PBR World Finals – Eliminations, each of the 45 competing bull riders will attempt one bull nightly. Following the four rounds of action, the Top 15 in the Unleash The Beast standings and Top 5 in the Eliminations aggregate not already advancing will punch their ticket directly to the 2024 PBR World Finals – Championship on May 18-19 in nearby Arlington at AT&T Stadium, which will crown the 2024 World Champion and World Finals event winner.
For the second night in a row, it seemed like destiny this season is on Dias’ side. Each of his qualified rides in Eliminations was reviewed and then judged to receive a score.
VIDEO COURTESY OF PBR FOR TENN TEXAS MEDIA
As the last man to leave the chutes, the stoic Dias readied to take on a rematch in Ricky Vaughn (WinRock/D&H Cattle/Buck Cattle). This past April, Dias dominated the swift animal athlete for 90.5 points to clinch his sixth event win of the season in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
With an electric crowd inside Cowtown Coliseum cheering him on, Dias nodded confidently. While he appeared centered, Dias was initially called to have been bucked off just before the 8-second whistle. However, in the tensest judge’s review of the evening, Dias, despite flying through the air, was deemed to have still been holding the bull rope and awarded a qualified ride.
Dias was marked 88 points, the third-best score of the second round of Eliminations, netting 44 Unleash The Beast points. While he began the night 552.33 points ahead of Aparecido, he now leads the veteran contender by an augmented 596.33 points.
The score also allowed Dias to overtake sole rank of second place in the event standings. He is one of just two riders to be a perfect 2-for-2, trailing event leader Loudby 3.75 points.
Dias has drawn Canadian-born Norse God (Jane Clark/Gene Owen) in Round 3 of Eliminations in what will be a familiar showdown. Dias was bested by the bull in January 2024 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, bucked off in an uncharacteristic 4.43 seconds.
After winning Round 1 of the 2024 PBR World Finals – Eliminations on Thursday night, Aparecido was denied a score in Round 2, tossed by Dark Thoughts (Blake Sharp/Henry Wilson) in 4.03 seconds. Aparecido will look to recapture his winning form in Round 3 when he takes on Umm (D4 Cattle Co./Double F Ranch).
Dias was the lone competitor inside the Top 5 of the gold buckle race to reach the requisite 8 in Round 2. No. 3 John Crimber (Decatur, Texas) and No. 4 Dalton Kasel (Muleshoe, Texas) both slipped to 0-for-2 thus far at bull riding’s most prestigious event. They bucked off Red Demon (Universal Pro Rodeo/Rachel & Dustin Powell/Delmas/Williams) in 5.07 seconds and two-time YETI PBR World Champion Bull Ridin’ Solo (Bill McCarty/McCoy Rodeo) in 5.64 seconds, respectively.
After an opening-round score, No. 5 Alan de Souza (Taubate, Brazil) was humbled in Round 2, bucked off by Rorschach (Universal Pro Rodeo/Rachel & Dustin Powell/Delmas/Williams) in 3.69 seconds.
No. 3 Crimber now trails No. 1 Dias by 650.5 points, while No. 4 Kasel is 661.33 points back and No. 5 Souza is now 695.33 points behind.
Looking to log his first qualified ride in Round 3 and keep his hopes of becoming the youngest PBR World Champion alive, Crimber will again match up with Brown Bomber (Culp Bucking Bulls), who he rode for 88 points in mid-April in Everett, Washington.
Kasel has drawn Jersey Tuff (McClellan/Lidgard/Hart) as his third bull, while Souza will take on Wild Card (Blake Sharp/UB Bucking Company) in the penultimate round of Eliminations.
Loud was the undeniable victor of the evening, topping Round 2 as he covered Doze You Down (Dozier Cattle Co./Martinez Bucking Bulls) for a mammoth 91.75 points.
VIDEO COURTESY OF PBR FOR TENN TEXAS MEDIA
The behemoth ride garnered Loud a crucial 89 Unleash The Beast points, allowing him to crack the Top 10 in the premier series standings. After beginning Round 2 of Eliminations ranked No. 15, he is now No. 10.
The second round of Eliminations featured the first of three rank pens at the World Finals, as those bovine athletes in contention for the YETI PBR World Champion Bull honor made their debut out in the Lone Star State.
No. 1 Man Hater (Jane Clark/Gene Owen) remained atop the standings after delivering a 44.5-point trip for his 2.84 seconds of work against Julio Cesar Marques (Tatui, Brazil).
The powerhouse bull, however, is now firmly in the sights of the new No. 2-ranked Red Demon, who rose one position in the standings as he tied for top bull score in Round 2 of Eliminations, marked 45.5 points via his trip with Crimber.
No. 2 Red Demon is now within 1.28 points of No. 1 Man Hater.
Big Bank (Universal Pro Rodeo/Rachel & Dustin Powell/Delmas/Williams) and Ridin’ Solo also delivered 45.5-point outs Friday night in the Fort Worth Stockyards to gain ground in the standings.
Big Bank rose from No. 5 to No. 4, closing within 1.72 points of No. 1 Man Hater, while Ridin’ Solo, who is chasing his record-tying third World Championship, climbed from No. 7 to No. 5 in the standings, pulling within 1.83 points of the top spot.
While he is not in the running for the World Championship, Cool Whip (Julian/Staci Addison/D&H/Crooked W) delivered his 41st consecutive career buckoff on the premier series as he tossed Boudreaux Campbell (Crockett, Texas) in 1.58 seconds. Cool Whip is now one out away from tying three-time World Champion Bull Bushwacker’s (Julio Moreno Bucking Bulls) legendary 42-out buckoff streak that was snapped by two-time World Champion J.B. Mauney (Statesville, North Carolina) in August 2013.
Elsewhere in the bull pen, the opening round of Eliminations included an ABBI (American Bucking Bull Inc) Classic competition, featuring 44 of the best up and coming four-year-old bovine athletes competing for their share of a near $45,000 prize purse.
The Intimidator (Halpain Bucking Bulls) delivered an unrivaled 89.44-point score to win the Classic event title, which marked his second straight victory of the 2024 season. The Intimidator earned the marks and a check for $8,531 courtesy of his 4.4 seconds of work with Conner Halverson (Gordon, Nebraska). Of note, The Intimidator’s mother is a sister to world No. 1 bull Man Hater. His victory catapulted The Intimidator to the No. 5 rank in the ABBI Classic world standings.
Flint Stone (Flinn/D&H Cattle) turned in a score of 88.72 points for his 0.79-second buckoff of Cody Jesus (Window Rock, Arizona) to finish second. Rounding out the Top 3 was Fire Magic (Bob & Jeri Adams/D&H Cattle) in third. The surging bovine athlete posted an 88.24-point score while bucking off three-time PBR World Champion Silvano Alves (Pilar do Sul, Brazil)in 4.05 seconds.
The 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Eliminations continues with Round 3 on Saturday, May 11 at 6:45 p.m. CDT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased at PBR.com/WorldFinals, CowtownColiseum.com and AXS.com, or by phone at 1-800-732-1727.
PBR RidePass on Pluto TV will offer re-airs and on-demand replays of every PBR Unleash The Beast event. PBR RidePass is available on desktops, laptops and mobile devices via www.pluto.tv. Click here for on-demand PBR programming.
PBR Unleash The Beast 2024 PBR World Finals – Eliminations Cowtown Coliseum – Fort Worth, Texas Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
