ProRodeo Sports News - Dec. 20, 2019

XTREME BULLS TOUR RECAP

Xtreme Champ

BY TRACY RENCK B eing king of the PRCA Xtreme Bulls Tour is a crown Sage Kimzey isn’t ready to relinquish. Kimzey won his third consecutive Xtreme Bulls Tour title at the Xtreme Bulls Tour Finale in Ellensburg, Wash., Aug. 31. Kimzey clinched the season title by placing second in the two-head average with 168.5 points. He earned $21,015 to finish atop the Xtreme Bulls standings with $88,348. It was his fourth Xtreme Bulls Tour title in five years. “This is pretty special for sure,” said Kimzey remains king of Xtreme Bulls Tour

Kimzey, the reigning PRCA six-time world champion. “The X Bulls are really important to the world standings, NFR, everything. They are premier events, so to say, besides the major rodeos. To have some success at the Xtreme Bulls helps everything, not only the bank account but also the standings.” Jordan Spears won the Xtreme Bulls Tour Finale with 173 points on two head. Spears earned $27,410. Spears also won the X Bulls Finale in 2017, earning an Xtreme Bulls record for a one-stop win with a $39,386 payday. Not only was Spears’ victory beneficial to his bank account, it catapulted him to his fourth appearance at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December and first since 2017. Spears finished ninth in the regular season PRCA | RAMWorld Standings with $121,588. “It is great to get the win in Ellensburg again,” said Spears, 27. “That’s why I ride bulls and focus on the X Bulls Tour because of the amount of money you can win (at the Finale). It’s pretty much a career-changing event at Ellensburg if you do your job, and I have been blessed to win it twice.” Spears secured his latest X Bulls win with an 89-point ride in the finals on Big Stone Rodeo’s Spotted Demon, the top bull of the 2018 Wrangler NFR. Since the Xtreme Bulls Tour started in 2003, Kanin Asay (2007 and 2012) and Kimzey are the only riders to win more than one Xtreme Bulls year-end title. “To have success in the Xtreme Bulls when you’re knocking heads with the best guys and really good bulls is always great,” Kimzey said. “I definitely respect the fact that I’m in the history books for that, no doubt.”

Sage Kimzey had an 86-point ride on Outlawbuckers Rodeo’s Home Grown at the Ellensburg (Wash.) Xtreme Bulls Tour Finale. Bill Lawless photo

$344,149 The amount of money Sage Kimzey has earned in the Xtreme Bulls Tour over his career, a PRCA record. His 2019 season total of $88,348 was a career best for Kimzey and second only to the $119,584 Matt Austin earned when he was crowned the Xtreme Bulls Tour champ in 2005. $66,796 The amount of money Jordan Spears earned by winning the Xtreme Bulls Tour Finales in 2017 and 2019 in Ellensburg, Wash. He earned $27,410 for his Finale victory Aug. 31 and earned an Xtreme Bulls record for a one-stop win with a $39,386 payday at the Finale in 2017.

ProRodeo Sports News 12/20/2019

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