Kimzey Trails No. 1 John Crimber by 238.5 Points with Seven Days of World Championship Electricity Remaining
FORT WORTH, Texas – As the 2026 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Finals: Unleash The Beast got underway inside Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, Sage Steele Kimzey (Strong City, Oklahoma) electrified the sold-out crowd with a session-best 90.50 points aboard Short Fire to win Round 1 Thursday night.
“It’s great. To be able to come into a World Finals is special, but to have the great support system here that I do, it makes it all even better,” Kimzey said on the Paramount+ telecast.
“I kicked the week off on a good note. I’ve got eight more bulls to stay on, so that’s all I’m thinking about.”
With his 19th career premier series 90-point ride, Kimzey earned 59 UTB points and his sixth round win of the season, alongside the top pick in the Round 2 bull draft, with selection order calculated based on Round 1 results.
The seven-time PRCA gold buckle holder was the only Top 5-ranked cowboy to record a qualified ride Thursday, with No. 1 John Crimber (Decatur, Texas) forced into a touch 2.27 seconds into his attempt aboard Wreck It Ralph and No. 2 Brady Fielder (Clermont, Australia) slapping Cherry Shot at the 2.11-second mark.
No. 4 Leandro Zampollo (Pirassununga, Brazil) was sent to the dirt by Jameson in 2.83 seconds, while No. 5 Alex Cerqueira (Iguatemi, Brazil) bucked off Cougar Uber in 3.92 seconds.
Bovine athletes dominated Round 1 competition, allowing just eight qualified rides.
No. 25 Callum Miller (Warwick, Australia) logged a season-high 90.25 points aboard Big Dawg and sits in second place on the event leaderboard following Round 1.
The Australian held the top spot until the third-from-last out of the night but still collected 34 UTB points for his opening night runner-up effort.
2022 PBR World Champion Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York) continued his hot stretch by knocking a re-ride dance with Let’s Roll out of the park.
Forcing the arena into a raucous celebration, he earned an 89.85-point score by completing his fourth-consecutive premier series conversion and claiming the second spot on the scoreboard.
No. 7 Swearingen rounded out the Round 1 podium and took home 31 UTB points.
2025 PBR Rookie of the Year Hudson Bolton (Milan, Tennessee) remained red-hot in Fort Worth, now successful in nine of his last 10 outs following an 8-second dance with Blonde Bomber.
Officially 7-for-9 all-time in World Finals competition, the 20-year-old, No. 19 in the standings, enters Round 2 in fourth place and netted 28 UTB points for his 89.65-point showcase.
No. 17 Luciano De Castro (Guzolandia, Brazil) recorded a tour-best tenth-straight conversion Thursday as the first cowboy to go the distance in the opening round.
The veteran scored 88.45 points after matching Mean Machine step for step as one of the hottest cowboys over the second half of the season to earn 26 UTB points and round out the Top 5.
Three additional riders converted in Round 1 Thursday night, with Dener Barbosa (Paulo de Faria, Brazil), Keyshawn Whitehorse (McCracken Spring, Utah) and Paulo Eduardo Rossetto (Colorado, Brazil) each set to begin Round 2 with a score on the board.
Round 1 also included an ABBI (American Bucking Bull Inc.) Classic competition, featuring the sport’s up-and-coming bovine athletes competing for their share of a $68,000 prize purse.
Freedom Fighter and Jeffrey D were each marked 90.24 points to share the Classic event title, tossing Romario Leite (Pedra Preta, Brazil) in 2.18 seconds and Jess Lockwood (Volborg, Montana) in 3.61 seconds, respectively.
Both bulls earned $13,260 for their efforts.
Action for the 2026 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – at Cowtown Coliseum continues Friday, May 8 at 7:45 p.m. CT, with Day 2 coverage set to begin on Paramount+ at 8 p.m. CT.
All eight days of World Finals competition are available via Paramount+.
Unleash The Beast – 2026 PBR World Finals
Cowtown Coliseum – Fort Worth, Texas
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Round 5-Round 6-Round 7-Round 8-Round 9-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
John Crimber, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Brady Fielder, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Leandro Zampollo, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Alex Cerqueira, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Dalton Kasel, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Marco Rizzo, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Julio Cesar Marques, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Bob Mitchell, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Claudio Montanha Jr., 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Cort McFadden, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Maverick Smith, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Kaiden Loud, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Cassio Dias, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Jess Lockwood, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Thiago Salgado, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Daniel Keeping, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Andrew Alvidrez, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Felipe Furlan, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Eduardo Aparecido, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Kaique Pacheco, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Alan de Souza, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Lucas Divino, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Kase Hitt, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Trace Redd, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Manoelito de Souza Junior, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
João Ricardo Vieira, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Bruno Carvalho, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Andy Guzman, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Alex Junior da Silva, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Alison dos Santos, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Wyatt Rogers, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Mason Taylor, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Romario Leite, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Macaulie Leather, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Grayson Cole, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Gustavo Luiz da Silva, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00
2026 Professional Bull Riders Unleash The Beast Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5’s, Points, Total Winnings)
1. John Crimber, 19, 2, 7, 984.50, $209,990.00
During the inaugural year of competition for the PBR Team Series, the Carolina Cowboys concluded the regular-season fourth in the standings 15-13 in game play.
The Cowboys notably logged the first 90-point ride in the league’s history, achieved by Campbell when he covered Dr. Campbell for 90 points en route to the team’s win in their opening game against the Arizona Ridge Riders.
In addition to winning one regular-season event (Austin, Texas), they led the league in bonus points (69), and held the No. 1 position in the league for three consecutive weeks, first ascending to the top spot after going 2-1 and finishing second at the inaugural homestand.
At the inaugural PBR Team Series Championship in Las Vegas, the Carolina Cowboys delivered a strong performance in Round 1 before being eliminated on the second day of competition for the progressive elimination tournament.
For more information on Carolina Cowboys, and for ticketing updates on the upcoming PBR Cowboy Days, visit https://pbr.com/teams/cowboys/, Carolina Cowboys on Facebook, @carolinacowboyspbr on Instagram, or @CARCowboysPBR on Twitter.
About the Carolina Cowboys:
The Carolina Cowboys are based in Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C., where the team will hold its second Cowboys Days homestand on September 22-24, 2023, the eighth event of the 10-event 2023 PBR Team Series regular season. The Cowboys are coached by PBR co-founder Jerome Davis. Under the leadership of General Manager Austin Dillon, the 2018 Daytona 500 Champion, the team is owned by Richard Childress and Jeff Broin. From a one-man team in 1969, Richard Childress grew Richard Childress Racing (RCR) into one of the most-respected organizations in NASCAR, with nearly 400 team members supporting full-time operations in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. As a car owner, Childress, who was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2017, has earned more than 200 victories in NASCAR’s top-three national series, 16 championships, three Daytona 500 championships and three Brickyard 400 championships. Away from the track, Childress is a businessman, philanthropist and conservationist – he loves wine, the outdoors, supporting the military, and investing in America’s youth. Childress’ properties include the award-winning Childress Vineyards. He sits on the board of directors of Growth Energy and holds an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Northwestern Ohio. Entrepreneur and agriculturalist Broin is the founder and CEO of bioprocessing giant POET, the world’s largest biofuel producer. Broin and RCR have a longstanding partnership through NASCAR and worked together to upgrade the league to 15% bioethanol.
About the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Team Series:
The PBR Team Series is an elite new league that features the world’s top bull riders competing on teams in five-on-five bull riding games during an 11-event season beginning in July and culminating in a team championship at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas November 4-6. During the 2022 season, each of the eight teams representing teams in Austin, TX; Fort Worth, TX; Glendale, AZ; Kansas City, MO; Nashville, TN; Oklahoma City, OK; Ridgedale, MO; and Winston-Salem, NC will host a three-day homestand. There will also be neutral site games in Cheyenne, WY and Anaheim, CA. To determine team rosters, the league held a rider draft on May 23 prior to start of the 2022 season among any bull riders who have declared for the draft during a league eligibility window. The PBR Team Series builds on the existing structure of professional bull riding with the same basic rules for judging and scoring qualified 8-second bull rides. Events will be staged in a tournament-style format with all teams competing in head-to-head matchups against a different opponent each day. Each game will feature five riders per team squaring off against another team. Full team rosters will be comprised of seven riders on the core roster and three practice squad members. The team with the highest aggregate score of qualified rides among its riders will be declared the winner of each game. The event winner will be the team with the most game wins across an event, with a special bonus round designed as a tie-breaker to determine final event standings. All PBR Team Series events will be carried on either the CBS Television Network, streaming live on Paramount+, CBS Sports Network, or RidePass on PlutoTV.
