JACKSONVILLE - A 91.0 point ride; the top eight-second ride of a two-hour night of high-flying bull riding action Saturday night; the Unleash the Beast Professional Bullriders (PBR) in the Jacksonville Memorial Arena as the race to the 2024 World Championship, created the same spectator response as a 15th round knockout of a heavyweight boxing championship as worldwide rodeo riders and fans got to see the best in the world at last eight seconds on rock and roll machines of flesh weighing up to 2,000 pounds.
After an hour or so of preliminary qualifying between 37 rodeo cowboys from as far away as Spain and as close as Geneva, Florida, it was an 18-year-old Texas boy; John Crimber, who stole the show with the 91.0 point ride on the final ride of the night. Crimber's ride came after 39-year-old veteran Joao Ricardo Vieira, of Spain, clocked off a 90.0 ride to jet to a top-three slot. Vieira knocked out Crimber in January in the Tulsa PBR event.
"We don't go against the riders here, it's all against the bull," said Crimber, a home-schooler in Decatur, TX. "For me to be competing against a guy like him (Vieira) means a lot to me. And to get my first win means a lot."
Crimber jokingly said he was to return home to continue his high school after the Jacksonville event.
"I'll go back and take care of that," said Crimber. "I don't do any sports in high school, I'm just a bull rider cowboy."
Crimber's exciting finish moved him to No. 2 in the World Championship Rankings behind No. 1 Cassio Dias, a Rookie World Champion from Brazil. Diaz unloaded a 94.75 score last week to win the Michelob Ultra PBR Los Angeles event with Crimber second.
Ironically, Crimber's 91.0 scores in Jacksonville, on a bull called Doze You Down rated at just 78 percent buck off meaning the bull itself has been ridden to eight seconds numerous times, came after a scintillating ride a few slots back by a 39-year-old veteran who scored the first 90.0 of the night.
Joao Ricardo Vieira of Spain, who was among the most seasoned riders on the docket in Jacksonville and a recent winner in a tie at the Tulsa PBR event in January, knocked out a 90.0 point ride on his final ride to put the pressure on the rest of the field; with a dozen rides to follow him hoping to jump to the top of the field.
Crimber, a runnerup finisher in his recent PBR events, had to have at least an 86.5 score to get past leader Dalton Kasel who hit an 89.5 to jet to a 261.00 point lead. Vieira's 90.0 point ride, jetted him to second with 179.0 points which was vulnerable with Crimber still in the chutes with rides of 87.0 and 87.75 keeping him in the chase.
Kasel moved into the top spot with an 89.5 ride to put pressure on Crimber against his total of 261.0. Crimber's ride put is total at 265.75 for the win and a $38,000 winners check plus a $4000 bonus check. Crimber earned $4,000 bonus money for the best ride of the night.
Kasel finished second with Vieira third with a distinct 179.00 points.
One guy who got a lot of "ride" time was Daylon Swearingen, of Georgia, who got to ride six bulls for the weekend due to Red Flags, or sub-par bull performances.
Swearingen, the 2022 World Champion, finished fourth with 173.25 points.