BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN
With one month left in the season, R.C. Landingham sat No. 18 and $3,000 out of an NFR spot. With his back against the wall in the final month, the 31-year-old won more than $25,000 and jumped all the way up to No. 13 to qualify for his third NFR.
Landingham won the Colorado State Fair and Rodeo in the last weekend of August and hit the ground running in September by placing in the Magic Valley Stampede (Idaho) and Santa Maria Elks Rodeo (California) over Labor Day Weekend.
LANDINGHAM’S 89-POINT RIDE IN PUEBLO, COLORADO
The next weekend, Landingham split first in Puyallup with Clint Laye and Austin Foss. All three cowboys were 168.5 on two head and more than $4,000.
LANDINGHAM IN THE PUYALLUP SHORT ROUND
Landingham then notched the biggest win of his career when he won the Pendleton Roundup on Sept. 18. He cinched the win with an 89.5-point ride on Choke Cherry in the Finals. The win moved him into the Top 15 in the World Standings, a spot he would not let go over the season’s final two weeks.
“Being on the bubble pushed me a little hard to get that win,” he said afterward. “It’s such a huge relief.”
LANDINGHAM IN PENDLETON SHORT ROUND
For good measure, Landingham also won Young Living’s Last Chance Rodeo (Montana) on Sept. 25 with 87.5 points on Outlaw.
In addition to his September success, Landingham finished third at Cheyenne Frontier Days and placed at eight straight rodeos in late June and early July.
Landingham set career-highs in average score (81.13) and rides marked 85 points or more (19).
He last qualified for the Wrangler NFR in 2017 and won $106,031 that year. The best finish of his career came the year prior in 2016 when he ended up No. 6 in the PRCA World Standings with $211,986.
Overall, he has placed in seven rounds at the NFR and won two in his career.
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