To Nevada We Go...

The 2007 Built Ford Tough Series is rapidly drawing to a close. With just six regular events left in the season, the cowboys are quickly pulling up to the World Finals in Las Vegas (Oct 26-28, Nov 1-4). This weekend is the Reno Classic. A three day event, it will feature three long rounds, and one championship round. Sadly absent will be our world leader, Justin McBride, whose injuries from the Chihuahua Challenge will keep him out for a few more weeks. That leaves room for JB Mauney, who has been trailing McBride for a few months now, to pick up some more ground on the 2005 World Champion. Round one will find Mauney squaring off against Big Mack a Red Brahman- Katich cross from Chad Berger and Clay Struve. The big red bull isn't likely to give him a go round win, as his average ride score is only 82.5, but if Mauney can stay atop him for the eight, and put together a few other rides, he should have a decent shot at a top 5. One downer for Mauney will be that his number two bull for the weekend, H&H Bucking Bulls' Life's Good, is a brand new bucker for the PBR's BFTS, making it hard to know what kind of action he will show us.

Chihuahua Challange winner Guilherme Marchi, and our current world number three, is also looking to gain some ground on McBride. He's drawn Chug-A-Lug from Chad and Lacey Berger for round one. This bull's only had two previous outs, both of which were unsuccessful, back in the 2006 season. Marchi has been riding really well the past few events, and it will be interesting to see if he can capitalize on the momentum he gained with his win in Mexico. His second draw is much like Mauney's, another rookie bull. This time from Steve Holbrock, a 2004 bull called SH-314.

One ride I am really looking forward to watching is Kody Lostroh aboard Kaycee Simpson's superstar Red Alert. Lostroh drew him back in Laughlin 2005, and stuck him for a 90.00. The big bull has been ridden 17 times now, and has an average score of just shy of 88.00. If Lostroh can stay aboard again with similar results this could prove to be our go-round win.

Another exciting draw is Cord McCoy aboard Spiderman from Chad Berger and Larry Ryken. Eight riders have taken a shot at this bull, and all eight have eaten dust with unsuccessful trips. I'm looking forward to seeing if McCoy, who seems to be staying up on at least one bull a weekend, can put together a multiple ride weekend, and make up some ground on the leaders.