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‘You gotta keep going at him the whole time, and that’s what I did tonight’  

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (March 8, 2010) - Austin Meier is as excited about being on the Built Ford Tough Series today as he was when he first debuted in 2006.

So it was no surprise that the 24-year-old was the first rider to arrive at the Sprint Center for the final day of the Built Ford Tough Invitational in Kansas City.

“That’s what it’s all about,” said Meier, who won his second BFTS event of the 2010 season. “I like to get to the event early and get things taken care of to where I can relax before the event.

“That’s just the way I roll. I take care of my business and I’m happy to be the last one to leave this weekend.”

Sunday afternoon in the short go, Meier finally matched up with Carrillo Cartel – a bull he had passed up at previous events.

“I (saw) that short-round list and, like I told my buddies in the locker room, whether I’m first coming in or whether I’m last and they leave him for me, I’m picking Carrillo Cartel,” said Meier. “I passed that bull up way too many times and it’s probably cost me more money than what I got now.”

Meier won the short round, and scored the highest marked ride of the three-day event with 91.5 points.

He was one of two riders to cover to all four bulls – Wyoming cowboy Jordan Hupp was the other – and earned a $31,604.40 paycheck for the weekend. More importantly, he moved into the third place in the world standings, and is only 417.5 points off the lead.

After four years without an event win, Meier has claimed two in the past five BFTS events.

“You know he moved in and out a little bit,” said Meier, who described Carrillo Cartel as wiggly and hard to track, “but the main thing is he’s so fast, and it worked out because I was aggressive.

“I was more aggressive on him when the buzzer blew than I was when I nodded. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. You gotta keep going at him the whole time, and that’s what I did tonight.”

Meier beat out Hupp, who’s now competed in three BFTS events and has three Top 10 finishes, by 4.25 points.

Ben Jones and Chris Shivers, who both avoided being cut from the tour, finished third and fourth, followed by Robson Palermo, who had the lead going into the final round before bucking off Smack Down.

Reigning World Champion Kody Lostroh had a strong showing this weekend, finishing sixth, while J.B. Mauney reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the world with a 3-for-4 performance after a tough couple of weeks.

Mauney took Big Tex with the 12th pick in the bull draft for the championship round, and rode him for 90.5 points. His was one of  four 90-point rides in the final round, and one of five on the day.

“I don’t know how many 90-point riders there were in the short round,” Meier said. “It was off the hook because there was just one after the other after the other.

“Everybody came to ride and everybody came to win.”

The BFTS travels to Arizona next weekend for the Glendale Invitational, which will take place at the Jobing.com Arena on Saturday and Sunday.

NEWS and NOTES

Moving Up: Jody Newberry (17), Jordan Hupp (18), Ben Jones (23), and Chris Shivers (24) have moved into the Top 30 since the last cut, and are guaranteed a spot in the draw each week as long as they remain there.

Another cut: Bryan Richardson, Luke Snyder, Cody Nance and Mike White are expected to be dropped from the BFTS when the second cut is officially announced Monday afternoon. However, as previously reported, White has announced his retirement.

The Amazing Race: Cord and Jet McCoy and made it through another episode of the CBS Series. This week the network described the fourth leg of the race for $1 million this way: “Racers must navigate an unfamiliar and confusing train system without their teammates, take a dive over Hamburg and reunite for a nausea-inducing lesson in German gastronomy.”

Dream Season Celebrity: J.W. Hart will be featured in the upcoming series “Dream Season Celebrity,” in which he’s paired up with Rod Owens. The team is one several competing in the hunting series, which was taped a few months ago beginning back in November. Owens was in Kansas City this past weekend to film some PBR footage that will be showcased on the series, which begins airing next month on the Outdoor Channel.

PBR NOW on RFD-TV: Hosted by Hart and Justin McBride, “PBR NOW” is a weekly live one-hour TV series that airs every Thursday on RFD-TV at 10 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to call in with questions at 866-547-9696, or email them to pbr@rfdtv.com.

—by Keith Ryan Cartwright

PBRnow.com