PBR Finals Season rolls on this weekend with the main event, the 2020 PBR and ABBI World Finals from Arlington and Fort Worth in Texas.
Here at home, we will also see the last stop of the 2020 PBR Australia regular season as the tour heads north to Queensland’s Whitsunday Coast.
Let’s dive straight into this week’s Rundown. Make sure you check out all of the event details below:
| Date | Time (AEST) | Event and Location | RtR Coverage | PBR Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 11-Nov | 12:00 pm | 2020 PBR Touring Pro Division Fort Worth, TX. | No Coverage | No Coverage |
| Thu 12-Nov | 3:00 am | 2020 ABBI World Finals Fort Worth, TX. Futurity Finals – Round 1, Cowgirls, Juniors and Open Futurity. | Limited Updates RtR Score Centre | RidePass |
| Fri 13-Nov | 2:00 am | 2020 ABBI World Finals Fort Worth, TX. Juvenile Futurity – First Half | Limited Updates RtR Score Centre | RidePass |
| 12:15 pm | 2020 PBR World Finals Arlington, TX. Round 1 | Limited Updates RtR Score Centre | RidePass | |
| Sat 14-Nov | 1:00 am | 2020 ABBI World Finals Fort Worth, TX. Juvenile Futurity – Second Half | Limited Updates RtR Score Centre | RidePass |
| 1:00 pm | 2020 PBR Australia Monster Energy Tour Airlie Beach, Queensland Event 1. | Live Updates RtR Score Centre | RidePass | |
| 12:15 pm | 2020 PBR World Finals Arlington, TX. Round 2 | Limited Updates RtR Score Centre | RidePass | |
| 6:00 pm | 2020 PBR Australia Monster Energy Tour Airlie Beach, Queensland Event 2. | Live Updates RtR Score Centre | RidePass | |
| Sun 15-Nov | 3:00 am | 2020 ABBI World Finals Fort Worth, TX. Futurity Finals – Round 2 | Limited Updates RtR Score Centre | RidePass |
| 10:15 am | 2020 PBR World Finals Arlington, TX. Round 3 | Limited Updates RtR Score Centre | RidePass | |
| Mon 16-Nov | 8:15 am | 2020 PBR World Finals Arlington, TX. Round 4 and Championship Round | Limited Updates RtR Score Centre | RidePass |
2020 PBR Australia Monster Energy Tour
Airlie Beach is the final stop of the 2020 PBR Australia Monster Energy Tour regular season and we can expect to see a pretty rank pen of bulls.
Once again, events at the 2020 Airlie Beach Invitational will start at 1 pm and 6 pm on Saturday and there will is a maximum of 160 points available across the two events.
It is a bit early in the week, and the daysheets haven’t been posted yet, so let’s take a quick look at the top and bottom of the 2020 PBR Australian National Standings.
While Lachlan Richardson and Aaron Kleier out a long way out in front, Jake Curr and Kurt Shephard are still a chance of getting their names in the mix for the National Championship. They need to be within 200 points of No. 1 entering the Grand Finals for it to be mathematically possible.
It’s hard to know where to start when talking about the race to qualify for the Grand Finals. As we know, only the Top 22 will make it to Townsville and taking injuries and international riders into account, the bubble should fall at No. 26.
Joe Down is that man on 48 points, so there are enough points available for any rider to force their way into a qualification spot. If we look inside the Top-26, there are six riders within 20-points of the cut line, so the pressure is definitely on.
In the race for Rookie of the Year, Jake Curr is in total control and if he can turn in one more solid result here at Airlie Beach, he can seal the deal.
Check back early on Saturday for The Morning Line for my highlight matchups, or you can find it on the PBR Australia website from mid-morning.
2020 PBR World Finals
This year we will see a format change for the Finals. Just five rounds of competition will be contested, but we will see the rank pen go at it in the Thursday and Sunday performances as per normal.
2020 PBR World Finals – Round 1 daysheet.
There are 1060 points available at the World Finals so there are a bunch of riders in the mix.
No. 1 ranked Jose Vitor Leme has a lead of about 425 points over Joao Ricardo Viera who sits 2nd in the standings.
Kaique Pacheco is next in line and is 688 points adrift with Daylon Swearingen, Jess Lockwood, Lucas Divino and Cooper Davis all between 700 and 800 points back.
I am tipping Leme to hold on.
The battle for the 2020 World Champion Bucking Bull title also looks a race in two. On average marking, this looks really tight with Chiseled (Flinn/D&H Cattle Co.) just ahead of Smooth Operator (Dakota Rodeo/Julie Rosen/Clay Struve/Chad Berger).
Both outs at the Finals will count towards their averages with the 2019 Champion Classic Bull Chiseled on a mark of 46.16 points with the defending World Champion Bull Smooth Operator just behind on 46.13 points.
There are a few bulls that are within reach, but they would need to turn in amazing numbers to surpass these two.
The Top-15 bulls in the ABBI Classic competition will have their Round 2 on Saturday night after bucking in South Dakota last weekend. It also looks to be down to two bulls.
After Round 1 in Sioux Falls, Woopaa (Barker Bulls) holds a slim 1.33 point lead over Ridin’ Solo (Cord McCoy/Steve Best). Every other bull is 8+ points back heading into the second and final round.
2020 ABBI World Finals
The ABBI World Finals also head to Texas with all classes contested, although I don’t think there are the numbers that we usually see entered.
Make sure you tune into the Second Half of the Yearling competition which will be on early Saturday morning our time. A few of our PBR Australia stock contractors have partnered on some young bulls that will be competing.
96 Ned Kelly Gang will buck for the partnership between Cord McCoy and the Aussie Boyz (Mitch James, Michael Shultz and Jason Dittmann). This son of Hello Darlin’s best performance of the year came at the Belton Futurity back in July where he produced an 89.60 point trip.
956 Tru Blu Gangsta has looked promising in the practice pen and will have his first ABBI trip in Texas. This son of Full Count will buck for Cody McCoy, Mitch James and Jason Dittmann.
Stay tuned to the Ride The Rage Score Centre for updates and check back for a full wrap up of the weekend’s action early next week!