2023 PRCA Media Guide - All Chapters
TEAM ROPING
said. “At the end of the day, we kept our faith in the Lord and our faith in each other and we persevered.” Driggers and Nogueira put the competition immediately on notice in their fifth NFR appearance together. In three of the first four rounds, they collected checks. The pace car, however, shifted down. The duo was not throwing out low times, but, in a sleeves-rolled-up fashion, they never got too far behind. They finished second in 71.4 seconds on nine head. Not winning rounds creates anxiety, but the average provided a path to victory. “It was one of the toughest finals (not winning a round), especially for me. Kaleb did an amazing job of keeping me up. A great job. Perhaps, I
just humbled myself a little bit, I guess,” said Nogueira. “We had to fight through it. There’s nothing easy. We always compete against the best guys in the whole world, and they don’t make
Nogueira
it easy on anyone. We were blessed to be good in the average, and we really had to catch that last one, a tough steer. We were able to do it. And you have to give all the glory to God.” The duo finished the year a career-high in earn ings, each collecting $340,708, which included a battery of victories leading to Las Vegas. Talent explains much
2022 WORLD CHAMPIONS
of their success, but so does trust and friendship. “We have had a very blessed year. Getting to travel and compete with this guy is a blessing,” Driggers said. “He’s a great model for me and to anyone he comes into contact with. To be his partner is special. After six years, this is truly special. I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else but him.”
– Dagin Renck
Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira stayed consistent at the 2022 Wrangler NFR and walked away with their second consecutive header and heeler titles, respectively.
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2023 PRCA MEDIA GUIDE
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