ProRodeo Sports News - November 17, 2023

EDITOR’S LETTER TRACY RENCK

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.

Fernando Sam-Sin photo Bareback rider Rocker Steiner took part in a day at the races Nov. 4 at Phoenix Raceway. He was a guest of Jordan Anderson Racing.

NASCAR race in Phoenix was well worth the trip C overing NASCAR races live is a great experience and not new to me. From 1997-2005, I was fortunate to cover the NASCAR Busch Series at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, the hood of the Retzlaff’s Chevy Camaro, and they treated all of us like VIPs. Members of Retzlaff’s pit crew even gladly wore Wrangler National Finals Rodeo hats during the race. It was great exposure for the PRCA.

Colo., just down the road from the PRCA headquarters in Colorado Springs. I got to interview stars like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth, just to name a few. Yet that vibe wasn’t as cool as making the trip to the Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship race, Nov. 4. Why? Because of the rodeo ties. Bareback rider Rocker Steiner, a two-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier (2022-23), ventured to the track with his father, Sid, the 2002 PRCA Steer Wrestling World Champion and his grandfather Bobby Steiner, the 1973 PRCA Bull Riding World Champion. The Steiners were special guests of the Jordan Anderson Racing team and driver Parker Retzlaff. Retzlaff pilots the No. 31 FunkAway Chevy. The NASCAR crowd and rodeo crowd are quite similar. The Steiners were right at home – cowboy hats and all. Fans came and got photos with Rocker and his autograph. Some fans recognized him from his TV appearance on the mega-hit series Yellowstone and others for his rodeo ability. It was great to see motorsports fans know rodeo and one of the PRCA’s biggest stars. What was even cooler is the way Jordan Anderson Racing and Scott J. Wood, the EVP, Chief Operating Officer for FunkAway, Inc., welcomed the Steiners and the PRCA. The PRCA branding was right on

In the driver’s lounge of the JAR hauler for Retzlaff, Rocker and Retzlaff were guests on The Chute Bosses podcast with my co-worker Tanner Barth and me. View or listen to the podcast at this link: https:// prorodeo.com/news/2023/11/8/rocker-steiner-the-chute-bosses Both Rocker, 19, and Retzlaff, 20, are driven by competition and the desire to succeed – just one is on a bareback horse and the other is behind the wheel of a 200-mph machine. Despite learning about Rocker’s career, Retzlaff wasn’t ready to climb aboard a bareback horse. The same can’t be said for Rocker getting in the cockpit of a race car. “Sign me up,” Rocker said. Retzlaff told Rocker that he needed to plan a trip to Charlotte, N.C., to try his hand at some racing, which Rocker wants to do. At this event, Rocker and Retzlaff became fast friends, and Retzlaff is planning to come to the NFR in December at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The goal for rodeo is to become mainstream – whether it is one fan at a time like Retzlaff or fans coming to watch the sport in droves – the PRCA welcomes them all. With more fans comes more sponsors and more sponsors means more money for cowboys, which is a win-win for everybody just like this cross promotion with NASCAR and the PRCA.

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ProRodeo Sports News 11/17/2023

ProRodeo.com

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