News

First year, second win

Nance solidifies rookie race lead; Marchi moves up on Lostroh

COLUMBUS, Ohio (October 12, 2009) - In the immediate moments following the second Built Ford Tough Series win of his rookie season, Cody Nance said he didn’t have the words to describe how he was feeling.

But twice he said, “It’s a blessing.”

“I don’t know of any other words to describe it,” he added.

The 21-year-old from Paris, Tenn., may have surprised everyone in Pueblo, Colo., where he won earlier this year. But in Columbus, Ohio, he entered the championship round with the first pick in the draft. When he selected The Game, it was his event to lose.

He rode The Game for 91 points, another first-place finish and $32,980.40 in prize money. He was one of four riders to go three-for-three, including defending World Champion Guilherme Marchi.

“Praise God,” he said. “Thank Him. He’s behind me the whole way, supports me and pushes me. Just trying to keep my hand closed and let him take care of the rest.”

He finished the opening round in 10th place on Saturday night at Nationwide Arena with an 85.5 on White Trash, a bull owned by Tom Teague, and followed up Sunday afternoon with an 88.25 on Big Rig to claim the overall lead.

The two-bull total of 173.75 points assured the top contender for this year’s Daisy Rookie of the Year title an opportunity to ride The Game, a Tennessee bull that was born and raised 10 miles outside of his hometown.

“I’ve been set on that bull for a long time,” Nance said. “I’ve known that bull several years now and I’ve seen him growing up.

“I begged Brandon Gasper to get on him tons of times in the practice pen, and he always said, ‘No. You’ll have to pick him.’ Thank God I got that opportunity and it worked out.”

It worked out, all right.

Nance won the event by 1.75 points over Dustin Elliott. He now has five Top 10 finishes in just 11 career BFTS events. Three of those are Top 5 finishes, and two were for event wins.

After going three-for-three in Columbus, he’s now covered seven of his past 10 bulls to raise his BFTS average to 41.94 percent. It’s a substantial increase after starting out six of 21.

“I’ve been riding bulls for about eight years now,” Nance said. “I’ve been on a ton of bulls in my life, and thank God I’ve been really healthy and that I’m healthy now and that I’ve got this win under my belt, and the one before. I owe it all to God, and He’s the one who does it all.”

He now has more than a $51,000 lead over Skeeter Kingsolver in the rookie race, and he’s 10th in the qualifier standings with a total of $127,385.54.

Ranked 28th in the world, Nance is one of only two riders with less than 20 events this season who are ranked in the Top 30. Mike White, who’s competed in 18 BFTS events in 2009, is the other, at 26th in the standings.

Barring an injury, Nance is a virtual lock for Vegas. His second BFTS event win all but sealed the rookie race.

“It’s an honor,” he said. “I think that it’s an awesome opportunity. I’ve worked real hard for it. I’ve prayed a lot and God’s answered my prayers.”

Dustin Elliott, Marchi, Austin Meier and White round out the Top 5 finishers of the Cooper Tires Invitational presented by Copenhagen Bull Riding.

For Elliott, success in the short go was a long time coming.

He rode Chicken on a Chain for 91.25 points, but it was his first qualified score in the championship round in his past 10 attempts. He’s made it back in five of the past six BFTS events and seven of the past nine events.

“Good bull,” said Elliott, who’s now ridden him two out of three times. “He’s big, strong. I love that bull. Actually I talked to Jeff (Robinson) and I’m going to breed some of my cows to him this year and have some little Chickens.”

In the title race, Kody Lostroh rode his way into his 21st championship round, but Marchi cut into his lead.

Lostroh lead Marchi by 962 points coming into the weekend, but he leaves Columbus with just a 754.25-point lead.  J.B. Mauney fell from 972.25 to 1,290 points off Lostroh’s lead with one BFTS event remaining.

The BFTS will conclude next weekend in Uncasville, Conn., with a three-day event taking place at Mohegan Sun Arena.

View full event results and information, including exclusive behind the scenes interviews.

NEWS and NOTES

Live from Mohegan Sun: Be sure to log onto www.pbrnow.com next weekend and select the “Event Center” tab on the left hand side of the Uncasville event page, so you can follow along with real-time stats, live commentary and event related Podcasts.

Road to Vegas: All roads are leading to Las Vegas! At this time of the season the PBR is all about the World Finals, which is Oct. 30 through Nov. 8. Call  866-PBR-SHOW  866-PBR-SHOW  for ticket information or log onto www.unlvtickets.com to order your tickets for what will be one of the tightest finishes for the world title.

Tweet, tweet: Be sure to follow the PBR on Twitter at www.twitter.com/teampbr.

—by Keith Ryan Cartwright