ProRodeo Sports News - July 8, 2022

EDITOR’S LETTER TRACY RENCK

Saddle bronc rider Creigh- ton Curley failed to register a score aboard Kirsten Vold Rodeo Com- pany’s Joker at the World’s Oldest Rodeo in Prescott, Ariz., July 4. Robert Rosales photo

Cashing in during lucrative Cowboy Christmas run

T here was a time during the month of July that TV ads were full of car dealers and furniture stores celebrating Christmas in July for customers, where they were offering great discounts for merchandise. This is a different time we live in as a lot of people in the 18 to 25 age demographic don’t watch TV or even own a TV. One thing that hasn’t changed is Cowboy Christmas for PRCA contestants. The 2022 version of Cowboy Christmas consisted of 34 rodeos, which ran June 27 through July 5. Make no mistake cowboys and cowgirls travel the country fromOct. 1 to Sept. 30 to compete, but nothing compares to the hectic schedule the contestants plan out for their Cowboy Christmas runs. It is physically impossible to make all 34 rodeos – so strategy comes into play – namely where do contestants feel like they can win the most money. The epitome of the craziness of Cowboy Christmas was expressed by saddle bronc rider Lefty Holman. The Visalia, Calif., cowboy won the Oakley (Utah) Independence Day Rodeo and the Killdeer (N.D.) Mountain Roundup PRCA Rodeo and had success in Ponoka (Alberta). “I don’t even know where all we went, that’s how the Fourth went!” he joked. Holman is chasing his secondWrangler Nationals Finals qualification after making his debut at the NFR in 2020. One thing that never seems to change with Cowboy Christmas is it is a time when world champions rise to the occasion. That was no different in 2022. Reigning team roping world champions Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira earned $35,152, making them the Santa Claus of the latest version of Cowboy Christmas. Tie-down roper Shane Hanchey, the 2013 PRCAWorld Champion, earned $26,576.

TimO’Connell, a PRCAWorld Champion Bareback Rider from 2016-18, added $23,938 into his pockets. And, he has world title No. 4 in clear focus. “If I am going to be away frommy family, it’s about getting on good horses that I want to be on and having fun while I am doing it,” O’Connell said. “When you put all those together, it’s pretty hard to beat me.” If coal is all a contestant received for Cowboy Christmas it doesn’t ruin the season, but a fruitful Cowboy Christmas run can certainly be the difference of someone making the Finals or not. With the Cowboy Christmas run in the rear-view mirror, those contestants looking to regroup don’t have to wait long. There are plenty of well-paying rodeos

Tracy Renck is the editor of the ProRodeo

Sports News . He previously served more than seven years as a media coordinator at the PRCA. He has three decades of experience in sports journalism with the last several consumed by ProRodeo.

upcoming like the Calgary Stampede ( July 8-17) and the NFR Open powered by RAM, July 13-16, in Colorado Springs Colo. Those two rodeos are huge stops for cowboys and cowgirls to cash in and gain valuable points in the NFR Playoff Series presented by PendletonWhisky. Other NFR Playoff Series stops on the immediate schedule are the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo in Vernal, Utah, July 7-10, the Silver State Stampede in Elko, Nev., July 8-10, the Central Wyoming Fair & PRCA Rodeo in Casper, Wyo., July 12-16 and the SheridanWYO Rodeo, July 13-16. With the 2022 PRCA regular season ending Sept. 30, now is the time for contestants to start the push to the Wrangler NFR, which is Dec. 1-10 in Las Vegas, to separate the pretenders from contenders.

ProRodeo Sports News 7/8/2022

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