Craig Jackson three peats in El Paso to take over the World Standings of Championship Bull Riding

EL PASO, Texas - Feb. 8, 2015 - PRLog -- For the first time in the history of Championship Bull Riding, one bull rider has won the same event title, three times.  Craig Jackson of Houston, Texas, rode three bulls for three 90 point plus bull rides to unleash the enthusiasm in the sold out El Paso County Coliseum for the 10^th Anniversary of the Casa Ford Tuff Hedeman Championship Bull Riding.

Jackson after winning the El Paso title in 2011 and 2012, can’t help but smile when you ask him about the magic that happens for him inside this particular building.

“This is just the coolest event, it’s hands down the best event on the tour, with the thousands of fans cheering you on, you just have to get fired up.”

In order to advance to the final four Shoot Out round, the thirty-three year old bull rider boarded two bulls he had never seen before, but he was not about to let that deter him from his three-peat mission. Jackson had this to say about the pressure of riding well, again, in El Paso.

“I knew what I was going to do when I got here today. It was only about today.”

Jackson’s strong performance in El Paso moved him to the top of the CBR World Standings. He is 107.5 points in front of second place rookie Wyatt Rogers, Rose, Oklahoma, who bounced back after a zero point gain in last week’s on The Road to Cheyenne tour event in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

Round One
Cody Rostockyj was first out of the chutes and warmed the crowd up with a 91 point bull ride on Pete Carr’s Footloose, a perennial favorite on the rodeo trail. Neil Holmes not only answered, but won the round with a rematch on another bucker from Pete Carr. Holmes rode 838 Lineman for 92 points, a little revenge for the same bull he bucked off of late last fall in Liberty, Texas.

Eighteen year old Wyatt Rogers had to work hard to keep pace, but the high school senior turned in a 90 point effort on 161 Firehouse, a handful from Cory Melton.

CBR and PRCA World Champion Sage Kimzey and Chris Roundy turned in 90.5 points as well.

With twelve qualified rides in round one it would take an 87.5 to advance to the semi-final round with Corey Maier filling that 12^th slot. Also advancing were rookie Newt Brasfield, 2015 Jackson event winner Elliot Jacoby and Lane Toon, who has made a name for himself in the first half of the season.

Semi Final Round
After an incredible display of horsemanship from the all-female Charra Equestrian team during intermission, the second round of action got underway with Corey Maier taking the average lead with 177.5 on two after riding Elite’s great bucker Karaoke for 90 points.

Silvercreek’s Hell Pony would prove too much for rookie Newt Brasfield and his night was over in 2.84 seconds. But Jacoby’s 91.5 ride on JC Knapp’s Pepper would rock the house to take the average lead with a 180.

The number one bull rider in the CBR Standings coming into El Paso was Aaron Pass of Kaufman, Texas. Pass, who has ridden several times in the border town.

“The atmosphere around this event is incredible. This event has a deep meaning to a lot of guys who want to show up and ride here to win in Tuff’s hometown,” said Pass, who advanced to the second with a 90.5 score in round one on Lyndal Hurst’s NFR bull, 211 Iron Horse.

The leader board would not change as NFR cowboy Chandler Bownds got a little help from his friend, Cactus Jungle, posting 88.5 points which made him 179 on two. Bownds and the bull both reside in Lubbock, Texas.

Wyatt Rogers got by Rubber Band for 88 points which would not take the average lead, but would be enough to slide in as the final rider to qualify for the Shoot Out Round.  Veterans Neil Holmes and Aaron Pass came down early at the horns of Carr’s Thunder Cat and Barrett, Craig and Rugg’s Boomer, the bull Rogers won over $43, 00 on earlier in the season.

But according to Jackson, it was the luck of the draw that would win him the second round with his 92.5 performance on Owen Washburn’s Good Cop.

“I came here to get on one of Owen Washburn’s bulls, he rode the rankest of the rank during his time. When you draw one of the Captain’s bulls, you get excited. I had never seen this bull before but I knew I had the chance to score big if it was Owen’s,” said Jackson. Washburn, nicknamed the Captain for the longevity of his 21 year bull riding career, was the 1996 World Champion bull rider and is now on the other side of the chutes flanking his bred to buck bucking bulls.

The Shoot Out
With the highest average score on two head, Jackson was in the driver’s seat and there never was a doubt in Craig Jackson’s mind it would be 050 Gold Buckle that would carry him thru the final round. Seven days prior, Jackson rode 050 to the whistle in the shoot out round in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, but the judges disqualified the ride for a slap.

Jacoby picked next and he choose Cody Teel’s winning ride from last week, NFR bull Seeing Red. Bownds would go with Lyndal Hurst’s, Yellowhair, leaving the two time Oklahoma High School Champion bull rider with Whirlaway, a bull only ridden twice in the last 25 outs.

Whirlaway would stick his signature move on Rogers at about 4.5 seconds to end his hopes of winning his first 2015 tour event after making the final four in two of the four 2015 events. Bownds, who had traveled from a rodeo in Rapid City, South Dakota to get to the El Paso County Coliseum, never wavered during his 91.5 show on Yellowhair. Third to ride was NFR qualifier Elliott Jacoby who came down before the whistle on Seeing Red. And then there was one.

Jackson, focused on riding the bull he was disqualified on last week, had a good seat on Gold Buckle when he left the chutes, he quickly began spurring the big sorrel and white spotted bull hoping to earn the extra style points it would take to beat Bownd’s 91.5. Kicking so hard he injured himself, Jackson’s date with destiny would flourish and his 92.5 ride would earn him the championship title, the Hy O Silver trophy buckle, and a $12,000 check, for the third time.

CBR Million Dollar Bull Team Challenge
El Paso, the seventh stop and half-way mark of the Mahindra Road to Cheyenne tour was also a competition for the bulls who are gathering points and earning money on their Road to the Cheyenne World Finals.

Carr Pro Rodeo and Box K Cattle Company were victorious tonight with a five point win over the other eleven teams competing. The three bull per contractor competition earned Pete Carr’s buckers a $20,000 paycheck for their 22.34 seconds of work in El Paso.  Winning the Highest Marked Bull of the night honors was Carr and Box K’s Thunder Cat, who bucked off Neil Holmes. The Champion bull of the night was a tie between Washburn’s Good Cop and Barrett, Craig, and Ruggs Gold Buckle, both with 92.5 ride scores.

Round by Round rider scoring available on cbrbull.com