Bull Riders Come to Utah

Brendon Clark talks about what it’s like to go up against the bulls and come out victorious.

The Professional Bull Riders will be in Utah for the Cal-Ranch presents the Dickies Northwest Touring Pro Division event on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the West Jordan Arena.

Tickets begin at $15 and can be purchased at select Smith’s Food Stores, online at www.smithstix.com, by telephone at (800) 888-8499 or at the arena box office beginning at 10a.m. on Saturday morning.

Brendon Clark (Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia) will be trying for his fourth straight victory on Saturday. He became the first rider in recent history to win three PBR-sanctioned events in a row with a first-place finish at the TPD event at the Antelope Valley Fair in Lancaster, Calif. on Sunday. He also posted TPD wins at Greeley, Colo. on June 26 and at St. Paul, Ore. on June 30. Clark is scheduled to return to the elite Built Ford Tough Series beginning in Tulsa on July 16-18. Clark has won over $800,000 on the elite Built Ford Tough Series since 2003 and is one of the top riders from Australia, representing his country in the PBR World Cup three times.

In addition to Clark, BFTS riders scheduled to compete include Zack Brown (Santa Fe, Texas), Ned Cross (Midland, Ore.), Wiley Petersen (Fort Hall, Idaho), Chance Roberts (Jewett, Ill.) and Harve Stewart (Stephenville, Texas). The field also includes seven riders from Utah – Brayden Buchanan of Venice, Shawn Proctor of Tooele, Casey Sullivan of Erda, Josh Boone of West Jordan, Tim Bingham of Honeville, Bo Edwards of Price and Jinichiro Shibahara of Magna.

The PBR Touring Pro Division is the minor-league tour of the PBR and features up-and-coming bull riders competing alongside veterans and fan favorites against some of the most famous bucking bulls. The tour gives riders the opportunity to compete in PBR-sanctioned events while earning money to qualify for the elite Built Ford Tough Series, which is comprised of the Top 40 bull riders in the world. Every five events on the BFTS, the bottom five riders (based on points) are dropped from the BFTS and the Top 5 riders (based on money earned) from the Touring Pro Division are allowed to move onto the BFTS.

The event in West Jordan will be an ABBI Classic event. The ABBI, which introduces young bucking bulls at select BFTS and Touring Pro events, is dedicated to unifying, developing and promoting the buck bull industry through pedigree preservation; enhancement and promotion of bucking bull ownership, breeding, and welfare; and development of programs and events showcasing the world’s finest bucking bull stock. The ABBI is the third-largest cattle registry and is set up to record and preserve the pedigrees of the world’s premier bucking bull livestock.

The elite BFTS is having the deepest title race in history and there have been 15 different winners through the first 20 events. The BFTS is currently on its summer break and will return on July 16-18 for the Express Classic in Tulsa, Okla., presented by Cooper Tires and brought to you locally by Troy-Bilt and Blue-Emu.
There are 12 riders in the Top 20 of the BFTS standings who have won an event. The multiple-event winners for 2010 are Austin Meier with four wins and Renato Nunes and Valdiron de Oliveira with two wins apiece.

The BFTS standings lead has changed nine times and there have been six different riders at the top in the first half of the season. J.B. Mauney has been ranked first three different times while Austin Meier and Renato Nunes have each held the top spot twice.

About the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR)
More than 100 million viewers tune in each year to the PBR on VERSUS, NBC, CBS and television networks around the world. With approximately 400 hours of prime-time programming annually, the PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on air. The PBR attracts nearly two million live event attendees each year with its marquee Built Ford Tough Series and the PBR Touring Pro Division. More than 1,200 PBR bull riders compete every year in approximately 300 PBR sanctioned competitions in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. The PBR was nominated as 2010 Sports League of the Year at the Sports Business Journal Sports Business Awards alongside the National Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball.

For more on the PBR, please visit www.pbr.com, www.teampbr.com, http://www.pbr.tv, www.myspace.com/teampbr, twitter.com/teampbr, or www.pbr.com/worldfinals/.
Tickets begin at $15 and can be purchased at select Smith’s Food Stores, online at www.smithstix.com, by telephone at (800) 888-8499 or at the arena box office beginning at 10a.m. on Saturday morning.