EBS STAFF
For the past seven years, Outlaw Partners has sent representatives down to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to attend the PBR World Finals, five days of intense bull riding action with the top 35 bull riders in the world competing for a chance to win the coveted World Champion golden buckle.
For six years in a row (2013-2018), the Big Sky PBR has won the Event of the Year, which is decided by a vote from the top PBR bull riders. Once again in 2019, Outlaw Partners, along with Andy and Jacey Watson of Firestone Productions, are in the running to win the award for an unprecedented seventh time in a row.
DaltonKasel, who won the Big Sky PBR this summer, has been on a tear since he exploded on the scene beating much more experienced cowboys, including then-ranked world No. 1 Chase Outaw. Currently ranked No. 7 in the world, Kasel is the odds on favorite to win Rookie of the Year honors, currently leading Daylon Swearingen and MasonTaylor by 410.41 and 498.75 points, respectively.
Montana will be represented by two bull riders at the 2019 World Finals: Columbia Falls-based Matt Triplett and Volburg-native Jess Lockwood, who is currently ranked No. 2 in the world standings. Since coming back from injury, the 2017 PBR World Champion Lockwood put up the highest-marked ride of the season, scoring a colossal 93.75 points after riding Heartbreak Kid and snapping the bull’s 38-out premier series buck off record.
Outlaw Partners CEO Eric Ladd will be keeping a close eye on 51 Viper (pictured) who he co-owns along with other Big Sky locals. Last year, Viper won the Wild Card Classic at the World Finals, and this year he looks to make his mark competing against the rankest bulls in the world. Longtime bull rider Cord McCoy, who raised Viper on his ranch in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has called the almost four-year-old bovine “the Michael Jordan of bulls.”
