The NFR begins tonight on The Cowboy Channel and the PRCA on the Cowboy Channel+ App!
The NFR kicks off on Friday, after rescheduling the opening round due to the tragic events that occurred on the UNLV campus on Wednesday, Dec. 6. The NFR will still run through Saturday, Dec. 16 with ten full rounds after the canceled round was rescheduled to Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 10 am local time.
Athletes will be competing for their share of the $11.9 million with round winners taking home $30,706 per round and average winners earning $78,747.
Here are your News and Notes as we head into the National Finals Rodeo opening round.
Roughstock News & Notes
- Stetson Wright enters the NFR $379,744 away from being the first cowboy to win $1 million in a season.
- Rookie Bareback Rider Keenan Hayes is looking to become the first rookie to win a Gold Buckle since 2019 when Haven Meged did so in Tie-Down Roping
- There has never been a Saddle Bronc Ride of 90 points or higher in the opening round of the NFR.
- Stetson Wright (Bull Riding) and Keenan Hayes both have leads of over $100,000 in the PRCA World Standings over second place.
Timed Event News & Notes
- There have been just 14 different tie-down roping World Champions in the last 30 years and 10 of them have been from Texas.
- There are two new team roping pairs at the NFR - Clay Smith/Paden Bray and Nelson Wyatt/Jonathan Torres
- There has never been a team roping time faster than four seconds in the opening round of the NFR.
- Hailey Kinsel owns the Round 1 Record at the NFR with a 13.51-second run at the 2018 NFR.
NFR Round 1 Records
Bareback Riding: Richmond Champion, 91.5 Points on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Night Crawler-2019
Steer Wrestling: Trevor Knowles, 3.1 seconds-2013
Team Roping: (tie) Turtle Powell and Dakota Kirchenschlager, 4.0 seconds-2014
Wade and Cole Davison-2019
Tyler Wade and Trey Yates-2021
Saddle Bronc Riding: (tie) Bryce Miller, 89 points-2008
Sage Newman-2022
Tie-Down Roping: Trevor Brazile, 6.8 seconds-2015
Barrel Racing: Hailey Kinsel, 13.51 seconds-2018
Bull Riding: Don Gay, 94 points-1974
