Behind the chutes: Winston-Salem Meier gets a sneak preview of Cowboys Stadium competition

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (February 7, 2010) - By riding Lonestar for 89.75 points in the short round Saturday night, Austin Meier accomplished more than winning his first Built Ford Tough Series event of 2010.

He covered three bulls to win the Winston-Salem Invitational and moved into third place in the world standings, collecting a check for $39,205.

But he also got a head start on the upcoming Iron Cowboy Invitational.

“I wanted to see how he felt,” said Meier, who will attempt Lonestar again at Cowboys Stadium.

“He’s a bucker and kind of wiggles around a little bit. He’s definitely not as easy to ride as I thought he would be, but we made it work.”

Meier said he passed on RMEF Bugle in the draft, partly because he had him last week in Tampa, Fla., and bucked off.

According to Meier, who earned his first event win since Chicago in 2006, the key to his success was that he kept moving, kept tracking around the corner and stayed as square as possible.

The simple explanation: “It worked out.”

Meier collected a total 780.5 points (including round and event bonus points) and is within 629.25 points of Travis Briscoe’s lead atop the world.

Meier has ridden 15 of 23 bulls in seven BFTS events this year for an average of 65.22 percent. He now has three Top 10 finishes in 2010.

Renato Nunes, Beau Hill, Skeeter Kingsolver and Billy Robinson rounded out the Top 5 finishers, with Nunes winning both Round 2 and the short round. Nunes now moves into the Top 10 in the standings.

“It’s been a long time since I won a round,” said Nunes, who was on the shark cage when he added that he hoped Billy Robinson and Meier would end the round with a pair of qualified rides. “I won two rounds in just one night. That’s my job. I need to do good.

“I don’t like when any cowboy falls off. I like everybody to ride and the best wins.”

Nunes had the high-marked ride of the weekend with 90.5 points on RMEF Bugle, while Hill recorded the first 90-point ride of the event when he made the whistle on Chicken on a Chain.

Hill, who has one more injury exemption before facing a cut if he’s not ranked in the Top 30, moved all the way to 26th in the standings after covering all three bulls this weekend.

“I needed it not only for my points, but for my confidence,” said Hill, who admitted he might have come back early from his shoulder injury. “All I can do is ride my bulls and hopefully I’m in the Top 30 and they tell me to keep going.”

The Carolina kids didn’t fare as well.

J.B. Mauney was hoping to win the Winston-Salem event for the second year. Because he had to make up a five-point difference in the short round, he selected Code Blue. For the first half of the ride it looked as though he was going to make the whistle, but then he wound up off to the side and came down early.

He challenged the time clock, but the ruling was upheld. He finished the event in ninth.

Brian Canter and Shane Proctor went 0 for 2 this weekend, as did 12 other riders. Twenty riders made the whistle in the opening round, and another 18 did so in Round 2.

Next week, the BFTS is in Oklahoma City for the Express Classic at the Ford Center.

NEWS and NOTES

Head and shoulders: After consulting with the sports medicine team, Dustin Elliott decided to opt out of Saturday night's competition. Earlier in the day, he said, "I got my chickens scattered pretty good last night." But he waited until just before the rider introductions to make a final decision.

“Getting knocked out like that, my brain isn’t something I want to mess with very much,” said Elliott, who took a glancing blow from the back leg of Cash, “so I think it’s probably smarter just to sit this one out and look forward to Oklahoma City next week.”

He was especially disappointed in not being able to ride Juicy Fruit, the same bull his traveling partner Josh Koschel rode Friday night for 88.75 points and a second-place finish in the opening round.

Adios, amigos: In Round 2, Aaron Roy led off the fourth flight on a bull named Adios Nardo. Nardo is the nickname of outgoing CEO Randy Bernard.

Co-founders Cody Lambert and Ty Murray gave Bernard the nickname, and it was Lambert who suggested to board member Tom Teague that he use the name on a bull that otherwise had no name.

Buckle up: Ryan McConnel was walking barefoot in the hotel room he was sharing with Austin Meier Saturday when he stepped on his buckle. The hook punctured the heel of his foot, but he was laughing about it prior to the start of Round 2.

The end of the road: It was do or die for Zack Brown, so when he came down at 7.9 seconds he had no choice but to challenge the overhead time clock.

The ruling stood, and he’ll be cut from the BFTS on Monday afternoon, 308.25 points shy of the Top 30.

He simply flipped out: Following his second-round ride, which was an 89.25 point effort on Flashpoint, Renato Nunes climbed to the top of the fence on the far side of the arena for his trademark back flip. But for the first time, he lost his footing on the landing and went headfirst into the signage.

He got another chance at a more solid landing after his 90.5-point ride in the short go.

—by Keith Ryan Cartwright

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