Breaking it Down by Speed Williams – May 2025
We’ve only been home from the American a couple of hours, and I’m still amazed at what a phenomenal event this is. I was able to see multiple people in all events have a chance to win all or part of $1 million. There was Kaycee Field in the Bareback, Luke Branquinho in the Steer Wrestling, Chad Masters and Cory Petska in the Team Roping, Larry Dee in the Breakaway, and Sherri Cervi in the Barrel Racing. All of these are rodeo veterans who might never have had a chance like this in their careers. We also got to see an 11-year-old girl set an arena record in the barrel racing with an opportunity to compete for $1.1 million. Since no one won it this year, next year $2 million will be up for grabs.
I think we will see more veterans in all disciplines contemplating whether to come out of retirement and see if they can qualify for the American to have a chance to compete for this incredible purse. It’s life changing money, especially for young people who have never made the NFR. It was fun to watch youngsters in all the events competing against seasoned professionals.
The qualification process for The American Rodeo involves a tiered system, starting with Contender Tournament Qualifying Events, progressing to Regional Semifinals, and culminating in the American Contender Tournament Finals, where the top performers earn a spot in the main event. The top five ranked athletes in the PRCA and WPRA world standings in the respective disciplines are automatically invited to The American Rodeo and the $100,000 prize in each event. If one of the qualifiers/contenders beat the top five in their event they win a share of the $1 million. But if multiple contenders were to win their event(s), they would split the million.
Gabe and I tried to qualify at the Regional Semifinals in Kentucky. We made it to the top ten and drew a steer that got out of Gabe’s loop, so we didn’t progress. Hali roped in Kentucky as well and was able to progress. She roped Friday night at the American, coming in second with a 2.72, and progressed to rope Saturday at noon where things could have gone better. She didn’t draw the calf she needed and broke out.
Ten competed in each event and the top four progressed to Saturday afternoon. 1st won $100,000; 2nd $25,000; 3rd $10,000; 4th $5,000. Winners of each event were: Bareback: Rocker Steiner, 91.75; Breakaway: Josie Conner, 1.89; Team Roping: Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 3.95; Saddle Bronc: Damian Brennan, 91.75; Steer Wrestling: Will Lumas, 3.71; Tie Down: Shane Hanchey 6.73; Barrel Racing: Kassie Mowry 15.05; Bull Riding: Tristan Hutchings 89.25.
Congratulations to Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira for winning the team roping at the American this year, and $100,000 each. They went first and roped their steer in a 3.9, causing the rest of the field to take some chances to try and beat that time.
I want to thank all the people behind the scenes. Thanks to Teton Ridge for giving the cowboys an opportunity to change their lives competing in the sport of rodeo. It’s unbelievable what the American Rodeo has done for our sport, and what it will bring in the future.
As someone who spent their life trying to perfect his event, and work at being the best header I could be, I now teach and help people improve in heading, heeling, and breakaway. There’s never been higher payouts than there is now when looking at roping events. I think there will be a lot of people come out of retirement for this opportunity and it only comes around once a year. Now we only have a few months before the summer kicks off.
Gabe has been making progress with his heading. He’s been turning a lot of steers but we’re still working on handling, getting control of our horse, and being able to put runs together. We did buy a nice head horse named Yellowstone. I’m excited to see how he and Gabe get along and what their future holds.
Hali has been doing good at jackpots. I’m having to hold on to my reins tight. My daughter is trying to take my bald face horse, Blaze, from me for the summer. She has a nice string of horses: Redlight, Lippy (Gabe’s old heel horse), and Chester, have all been working well. I think she’ll ride Blaze at Cheyenne, though I’m still working on him and heeling on him for Gabe at times.
Gabe’s original rodeo partner, Trigger Hargrove, has decided not to travel this year, so I’m hoping he’ll find a partner to go with because ole Dad doesn’t want to be a full-time heeler. It’s ironic how the very thing you craved as a young man looks so completely different at this age. What excites me now is helping my kids and watching them grow into young adults and athletes I’m proud of.
