ProRodeo Sports News - 2021 Year End Edition

PRORODEO TOUR RECAP

Bull rider Clayton Sellars had an 86.5-point ride on Corey & Lange Rodeo’s Shaved Ice to win the ProRodeo Tour Finale. He earned $17,971 in Salinas. Phil Doyle photo

Finals' Payday Sellars crowned champ at ProRodeo Tour Finale

BY TANNER BARTH C layton Sellars just wrapped up one of his best seasons of ProRodeo. The Fruitland Park, Fla., native bull rider entered the ProRodeo Tour Finale in Salinas, Calif., fifth in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings and he proved why he’s one of the sport’s best. Sellars advanced to the four-man, sudden-death finals and delivered an 86.5-point ride on Corey & Lange Rodeo’s Shaved Ice to cement his name as ProRodeo Tour Finale champion. He said there wasn’t any extra pressure, he knew he just had to go out there and do his job. “That was a pretty common bull ride: up, down, right around, go to the front, sit back down,” said Sellars, a three-time NFR qualifier (2019-21). “It was an everyday bull ride for most professional guys, and I’m lucky like that I draw good bulls in good situations, and today we made it count.” It turned into a large payday for the 23-year-old bull rider. The eight- second cover in the finals earned him $10,000. For the weekend he brought home $17,971, which bumped him up to third in the world standings. “It’s kind of been a marathon; we’ve been here every day, one bull a day, two at the end of it,” he said. “It’s been a good warm-up for the NFR, you

know, having to show up and compete and win every single day. It’s been long, but it’s been very prosperous for me. I’ve been winning money every single day and had a photo finish here in the short round. It was a phenomenal event for me.” With Sellars locking up his thirdWrangler NFR bid he said not much will change between now and then. He’ll take a business-like approach into the next three months leading up to Las Vegas. “I’ll stay on my workout program, stay excited and go to Vegas the best I can be,” Sellars said. “I’ll just do the same thing I’ve been doing every single day. You know wake up thank God for everything I have and be the absolute best I can be all day. And this is the results you usually get when you continue to do that. So, that’s my plan.” He knows his first gold buckle is within reach this December. He says the basics that got him to this point are key and he plans to lean on those just like he did on his way to the 2021 ProRodeo Tour Finale Championship. “I just have to do the same thing I did here, show up my absolute best every single day,” Sellars said. “Knock them down one by one, keep your head down and handle your business in Las Vegas.”

ProRodeo Sports News 12/17/2021

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