Round 2 was full of fireworks inside the Thomas and Mack, and the big winner of the day was Caleb Smidt who has now won both of the rounds to start his 2022 NFR.
Here are your news and notes from day two in Las Vegas.
- Caleb Smidt keeps rolling. Smidt has now placed in 10 of his last 12 NFR rounds, including winning the first two of the 2022 edition. The two wins have him up to second place and now just $19,000 behind Shad Mayfield for first place. Mayfield placed second in last night’s performance to hold onto his No. 1 standing.
- Reid Oftedahl will be out the remainder of the 2022 NFR after a scary wreck in Bull Riding. Oftedahl was diagnosed with a closed head injury by the Justin SportsMedicine Team and was transported for further evaluation. Justin SportsMedicine announced that he was in stable condition, but will remain out with a head and neck injury.
- Stetson Wright becomes the youngest cowboy to earn $2 Million in his career after an 88-point bull ride earned him the round win. Because only he and his traveling partner Ky Hamilton rode, he earned just under $50,000 for the ride.
- Hailey Kinsel returns to form in Round 2 after knocking a barrel in Round 1. Kinsel took the round with a 13.61-second run on Sister. Kinsel moved up to third in the world after the win.
- Hunter Cure jumps to No. 2 in the world after taking Round 2 on Friday. Cure has been battling through injuries throughout the entire season and it is certainly paying off. Cure took the round with a 3.7-second run which pushed him up to the No. 2 spot which is $36,000 behind Stetson Jorgensen for first place.
- Looking towards Saturday’s performance, Rocker Steiner has a great matchup with Championship Pro Rodeo’s Frontier Coffee Rocks, a horse who Cole Reiner was marked 90 points on earlier this season.
- In Bull Riding Josh Frost drew Frontier Rodeo’s Gladiator’s Hammer who finished third in the Bucking Bull of the Year race. There have been three qualified rides on Gladiator’s Hammer averaging 90 points per qualified ride.
