After possibly the best back-and-forth battle we have ever seen in the barrel racing at the NFR, Kassie Mowry emerged victorious thanks to her 13.59-second run in Round 10.
Mowry entered the final round with a slim lead over Hailey Kinsel in the WPRA World Standings and the Gold Buckle scenario was simple - fastest time between Mowry and Kinsel on Saturday night takes it all.
Kinsel, aboard JLo instead of Sister, clocked a 13.97 as the final barrel racer of the night. So when the dust settled, Mowry topped the earnings chart with $457,809, edging out Kinsel’s $430,352.
“I was first or second no matter what, yes, it was a long 10 minutes,” Mowry said. “But second to Hailey and Sister is still incredible, I was happy either way.”
Both Mowry and Kinsel were electric in Las Vegas. Kinsel, who entered the NFR No. 1, won the first three rounds before Mowry roared back with five consecutive round wins of her own. That included times of 13.19 and 13.25 seconds, the second and third fastest runs all-time in the Thomas & Mack.
“The goal was getting here and that was it,” she said. “I never thought past that. Everything else was just a bonus. This was a heck of a bonus.”
It was an emotional year for Mowry because she lost her fiance in June. She said many days in the summer, it was difficult to just leave her home.
“That horse (Jarvis) gave me a reason to walk out my front door a lot of days, when I went out my driveway, everybody pushed me to get on the road. That horse just wouldn’t let me come home. He just kept winning out there at the summer rodeos. He wasn’t ready to come home, so I stayed out, and I’m glad I did.”
Mowry was also the RAM Top Gun Award winner with $295,526. It’s the most money won by a barrel racer ever at the NFR.
“To come out here and do better than I ever thought I could, it’s hard to describe,” she said. “It took so many things and so many people to get me through this. It was all worth it, I’ll never forget this.”
