Red-hot Rookie of the Year contender and Texan Boudreaux Campbell surges to lead in event aggregate with a sensational 90-point ride
ARLIGNTON, Texas – On the biggest stage in professional bull riding, Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardon, Brazil) clinched the 2020 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Championship inside AT&T Stadium Saturday night with one of the biggest rides in PBR World Finals history, putting a giant exclamation point on his season for the ages.
He delivered a 95.75-point score during the final out of the night, the highest-marked ride of his career, to win Round 3 of the 2020 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast, securing the coveted gold buckle and $1 million Monster Energy World Champion bonus.
Facing No. 1-ranked ABBI (American Bucking Bull Inc.) Classic bull Woopaa (Barker Bucking Bulls), Leme was in picture perfect form as he matched the powerful bovine athlete jump-for-jump, reaching the requisite 8 for his gargantuan score.
“It’s hard to explain this moment – the best moment of my career,” Leme said from center stage in AT&T Stadium. “I worked a long time, and I came to show to everybody I deserved this. I’m so blessed to enjoy this.”
The round win allowed Leme to clinch the season’s PBR World Championship as he expanded his lead over No. 3 Kaique Pacheco (Itatiba, Brazil) to 788.5 points with only 760 points remaining to be won on the final day of competition for the 2020 season.
The high-marked ride of the phenom’s career also tied for the fourth-highest scored ride ever recorded at a PBR World Finals and made Leme the front-runner for the 2020 Lane Frost/Brent Thurman Award, presented to the rider with the high-marked score at each PBR World Finals.
Leme has now won a PBR best 16 rounds in 2020, while going a torrid 44-for-63 throughout 2020 on the elite Unleash The Beast for an awe-inspiring 69.84% riding average on the world’s rankest bovine athletes.
In the league’s 27-year history, Leme is the 19th different rider – and seventh Brazilian – to claim the PBR World Champion gold buckle. His title is the eleventh time a rider from the nation of Brazil has won what’s been called the most difficult individual championship in professional sports.
In addition to clinching the 2020 PBR World Championship, Leme, who is second in the 2020 PBR World Finals event aggregate, is in position to make further history.
Should Leme win the World Finals, he would become the sixth rider in league history to capture the event title and World Championship in the same season, joining Jess Lockwood (2019), Mike Lee (2004), Renato Nunes (2010), J.B. Mauney (2013) and Silvano Alves (2014).
Further, should he win the 2020 PBR World Finals event, Leme, who won his debut PBR World Finals in 2017, would become just the fourth rider in league history to win the season-culminating event in multiple years. The other riders to have accomplished the feat are: Mauney (2009 and 2013), 1998 PBR World Champion Troy Dunn (1995 and 1997) and Robson Palermo (2008, 2011 and 2012).
Adding to the significance of Leme’s title-clinching ride, his match-up with Woopaa, solidified a world title for both the bull rider and bovine athlete.
Woopaa bucked to both the 2020 ABBI Classic World Championship and the 2020 ABBI Classic Bull of the Finals title courtesy of his monstrous out, netting a collective $150,000 in bonuses.
2018 ABBI Futurity World Champion Ridin Solo (Cord McCoy/Steve Best) placed second in both the World Finals and World Champion race to earn two $40,000 bonuses to compliment his reserve champion titles.
Hank (Halpain/Martinelli) rounded out the Top 3 Classic bulls in the World Finals event, while Top Shelf (OK Corralis/Gordon/D&H Cattle) landed a third-place finish in the World Champion race.
Continuing his dominant performance at the first-ever PBR World Finals of his career, Texas’ own Boudreaux Campbell (Crockett, Texas) remained perfect when he covered Safety Meeting (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/Hruby/Kainz) for a head-turning 90 points in Round 3.
The massive score is the second 90-point ride of Campbell’s career on the elite Unleash The Beast and his first-ever at the PBR World Finals.
Campbell previously covered Heartbreak Kid (D&H Cattle/Buck Cattle/Erwin Cattle) for 88 points in Round 1, and Bullseye (Mears/Owens) for 89.25 points in Round 2. He now leads the World Finals event aggregate as one of four riders to be a perfect 3-for-3 thus far at the season-culminating event.
Campbell, the lone rider to qualify for both the PBR World Finals and NFR in 2020, is now third in the 2020 PBR Rookie of the Year race. He trails standings leader Cole Melancon (Paris, Texas) by a slim 96.34 points.
Alongside Leme and Campbell, Cody Teel (College Station, Texas) and 2018 PBR World Champion Pacheco are the other two riders to be a perfect 3-for-3 inside AT&T Stadium. They are third and fourth, respectively, in the event aggregate.
Keyshawn Whitehorse (McCracken Spring, Utah) also continued his momentum during Round 3 inside the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys on Saturday evening. Recording his second consecutive 90-point ride, the 2018 PBR Rookie of the Year rode Skeeter Peter (Owens/Wyatt/Smith/Chad Berger) for 90 points.
The socially-distanced Arlington crowd also witnessed a commanding performance from veteran rider Ryan Dirteater (Hulbert, Oklahoma) who will cap an illustrious PBR career on Sunday when he retires at the conclusion of the 2020 PBR World Finals.
Matched up with Payin Debts (Gary Long/Dean Wilson), Dirteater recorded the second 90-point ride of his career at the World Finals, when he reached the whistle aboard the bovine athlete for 91 points.
Dirteater is now 2-for-3 in the Lone Star State at World Finals, eighth in the event aggregate.
During the second championship round for the $750,000 Women’s Rodeo World Championship held Saturday night in tandem with the 2020 PBR World FInals, barrel racer Hallie Hanssen (Hermosa, South Dakota) expertly navigated the course as her 14.735-second run was the quickest, distancing runner-up Jessie Telford (Caldwell, Idaho) who recorded a 15.339-second run.
Hanssen earned a $60,000 payday and the historic title of the first-ever Women’s Rodeo World Champion Barrel Racer.
The 2020 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast continues with Round 4 and the championship round on Sunday, November 15 at 4:30 p.m. CST.
Fans can relive all the action from Round 3 of the 2020 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast on demand on RidePass at 8:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, November 15. RidePass is available at RidePass.com or via the RidePass app available on iOS, Android and Roku.
2020 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast
AT&T Stadium – Arlington, Texas
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Round 5-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Derek Kolbaba, 92.75-0-90.75-0-0-183.50-145 Points.
2. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-91-90-0-0-181.00-135 Points.
3. Jose Vitor Leme, 87.5-83.25-95.75-0-0-266.50-117.5 Points.
4. Boudreaux Campbell, 88-89.25-90-0-0-267.25-110 Points.
5. Eduardo Aparecido, 91.5-89-0-0-0-180.50-92.5 Points.
6. Tye Chandler, 89.5-88.5-0-0-0-178.00-67.5 Points.
7. Ryan Dirteater, 0-88.25-91-0-0-179.25-62.5 Points.
8. Alex Cerqueira, 0-89-0-0-0-89.00-42.5 Points.
9. Mason Taylor, 89.25-0-0-0-0-89.25-40 Points.
(tie). Cody Teel, 87.5-88.25-88.5-0-0-264.25-40 Points.
11. Marco Eguchi, 0-88.75-83.25-0-0-172.00-35.5 Points.
12. Kyler Oliver, 0-0-90-0-0-90.00-35 Points.
13. Cole Melancon, 0-88.75-0-0-0-88.75-32.5 Points.
(tie). Dakota Louis, 89-0-0-0-0-89.00-32.5 Points.
(tie). Brock Radford, 89-0-0-0-0-89.00-32.5 Points.
16. J.B. Mauney, 0-0-89.75-0-0-89.75-25 Points.
17. Daylon Swearingen, 0-88.5-0-0-0-88.50-22.5 Points.
18. Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-0-89-0-0-89.00-17.5 Points.
(tie). Taylor Toves, 0-0-89-0-0-89.00-17.5 Points.
20. Kaique Pacheco, 87-84.25-84.5-0-0-255.75-17 Points.
21. Silvano Alves, 85.25-87.25-0-0-0-172.50-11 Points.
22. Cooper Davis, 82.75-0-87.75-0-0-170.50-10 Points.
23. Luciano De Castro, 83.75-85.5-0-0-0-169.25-9 Points.
24. Alex Cardozo, 0-87.5-0-0-0-87.50-6 Points.
25. Dalton Kasel, 0-0-87.5-0-0-87.50-5 Points.
26. Brennon Eldred, 0-83.75-0-0-0-83.75-2 Points.
Jess Lockwood, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Lucas Divino, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Colten Jesse, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Dener Barbosa, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Ramon de Lima, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Stetson Lawrence, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Joao Henrique Lucas, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Amadeu Campos Silva, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Marcus Mast, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Wallace Vieira de Oliveira, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Cody Casper, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Bradley Brittain, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Cody Campbell, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Andre da Cruz de Souza, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
2020 PBR World Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5’s, Points, Total Winnings)
1. Jose Vitor Leme, 26, 8, 13, 1,360.00, $325,293.61
2. João Ricardo Vieira, 27, 4, 11, 863.91, $246,451.24
3. Kaique Pacheco, 27, 1, 9, 632.50, $126,056.14
4. Jess Lockwood, 18, 1, 8, 575.50, $140,299.07
5. Lucas Divino, 23, 2, 7, 552.50, $128,065.20
6. Daylon Swearingen, 29, 2, 7, 548.16, $123,792.07
7. Cooper Davis, 16, 2, 8, 531.00, $110,602.39
8. Derek Kolbaba, 30, 2, 6, 480.00, $70,278.29
9. Colten Jesse, 24, 2, 4, 419.50, $97,832.31
10. Eduardo Aparecido, 20, 0, 3, 383.50, $55,813.97
11. Mason Taylor, 27, 1, 5, 368.75, $64,288.69
12. Ezekiel Mitchell, 27, 0, 4, 343.50, $68,215.40
13. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 15, 0, 3, 312.00, $37,650.73
14. Cole Melancon, 22, 1, 1, 290.00, $141,932.41
15. Marco Eguchi, 16, 0, 4, 268.75, $50,399.09
16. Cody Teel, 25, 0, 3, 268.25, $52,511.22
17. Dener Barbosa, 12, 1, 4, 265.00, $60,078.97
18. Brennon Eldred, 20, 1, 2, 251.50, $66,051.05
19. Alex Cerqueira, 16, 0, 3, 251.00, $44,839.88
20. Ramon de Lima, 19, 1, 2, 248.16, $76,577.08
21. J.B. Mauney, 10, 0, 4, 209.00, $35,208.02
22. Boudreaux Campbell, 6, 0, 1, 208.00, $18,714.23
23. Matt Triplett, 17, 0, 2, 203.50, $41,265.79
24. Silvano Alves, 23, 1, 2, 200.50, $49,900.88
25. Andrew Alvidrez, 14, 0, 2, 185.66, $43,718.73
26. Fabiano Vieira, 14, 1, 2, 185.50, $31,987.31
27. Claudio Montanha Jr., 21, 0, 3, 183.00, $38,680.16
28. Ryan Dirteater, 10, 0, 2, 182.50, $52,661.41
29. Stetson Lawrence, 21, 0, 2, 145.50, $37,373.03
30. Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 18, 0, 1, 131.00, $34,234.43
31. Tye Chandler, 7, 0, 1, 121.33, $16,046.67
32. Taylor Toves, 24, 0, 2, 117.50, $25,904.90
33. Aaron Kleier, 12, 0, 1, 86.83, $16,447.86
34. Joao Henrique Lucas, 16, 0, 1, 81.50, $18,912.31
35. Dakota Louis, 15, 0, 0, 72.50, $14,647.74
36. Rafael Henrique dos Santos, 11, 0, 1, 66.00, $16,467.49
37. Dalton Kasel, 6, 0, 1, 64.50, $13,750.00
38. Junior Patrik Souza, 11, 0, 1, 64.00, $15,078.39
39. Brock Radford, 6, 0, 0, 51.66, $4,580.67
40. Cannon Cravens, 11, 0, 0, 47.50, $17,000.00
41. Paulo Ferreira Lima, 11, 0, 1, 47.00, $13,368.67
42. Jake Lockwood, 17, 0, 0, 43.50, $17,838.68
43. Cody Jesus, 4, 0, 0, 43.00, $15,800.00
44. Cody Casper, 15, 0, 0, 40.00, $14,400.00
45. Dakota Buttar, 3, 0, 0, 35.00, $9,400.00
45. Amadeu Campos Silva, 15, 0, 0, 35.00, $12,747.22
45. Kyler Oliver, 2, 0, 0, 35.00, $400.00