Two-Time Canadian Champion Lambert and Australian Sensation Miller Split Victory on Opening Night of Competition for the 2020 PBR Canada Monster Energy Tour Finals

GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alberta – As action got underway for the 2020 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada Monster Energy Tour Finals, competition was fierce Thursday evening inside Revolution Place in Grande Prairie, Alberta, as an awe-inspiring, eight-man ride streak unfurled in the championship round, before two-time PBR Canada Champion Zane Lambert (Ponoka, Alberta) and Australian sensation Callum Miller (Warwick, Queensland, Australia) emerged the victors, tying for the event win at the PBR Shell Rotella Challenge.

For Lambert, the only man in league history to qualify for all 15 iterations of the PBR Canada Finals, he began his home province event with an 84.5-point score aboard Scissors (Vold Rodeo).

Tied for third entering the championship round, the veteran contender drafted VJV Whiskey Hand (Vold Rodeo), a decision which proved dividends.

With the four men prior to the 34-year-old having reached the requisite 8, Lambert continued the momentum, going the distance aboard the Vold Rodeo bovine athlete for a critical 88.5 points.

Twenty-five-year-old Miller got off to a hot start in the PBR Shell Rotella Challenge, dominating Round 1 with an 86-point score aboard Finning Nikki Sixx (Flying Four Bucking Bulls).

As the next man to erupt from the chutes following Lambert, Miller knew he needed to deliver commanding marks to reclaim his spot atop the leaderboard. Rising to the occasion, the Australian sensation recorded the sixth consecutive qualified ride of the event when he rode reigning PRB Canada Bull of the Finals Finning Lil Shorty (Flying Four Bucking Bulls) for 87 points.

Lambert’s perfect performance earned him $2,025, 63.33 Canadian and 11.5 world points, while Miller netted a cheque for $2,137.50, in addition to 66 Canadian and 11.5 world points.

Seeking history, Lambert gained one position in the national standings, now the No. 4-ranked rider in Canada, 146.67 points behind No. 1 Dakota Buttar (Kindersley, Saskatchewan).

Should Lambert be crowned the 2020 PBR Canada Champion he would tie three-time PBR Canada Champion Aaron Roy (Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan) for winningest bull rider in PBR Canada history. Presently, Lambert and Roy are the only two riders to have won the year-end honor in multiple seasons.

Miller’s career-first PBR event victory allowed him to crack the nation’s Top 10, now No. 10 and within 243.5 points of the top rankings. If Miller’s riser were to continue, he is on the precipice of becoming the first-ever Australian to be anointed the PBR Canada Champion.

Buttar parlayed a self-renewed showdown with Tykro Pound Sand (Wild Hoggs/Corey Chmelnyk) into a third-place finish, tying for the bronze alongside Lonnie West (Cadogan, Alberta), to solidify his reign atop the national standings.

The 27-year-old Saskatchewan man’s winning ways were on full display in Round 1, tying for the round victory alongside Miller after making the 8 aboard Just A Jam’n (Vold Rodeo) for a matching 86 points.

The top marks perfectly positioned Buttar in the championship round bull draft to select the very bovine athlete that had propelled him to three event wins earlier in 2020 – Tykro Pound Sand.

Having most recently danced with the striking black-and-white bovine athlete for a monstrous 90.5-point score to win the prestigious Glen Keeley Memorial, part of the Touring Pro Division, in September in Staveley, Alberta, Buttar also claimed victories at the Monster Energy Tour events in Calgary and Lethbridge in the winter months courtesy of qualified rides aboard the Wild Hoggs bovine.

As Buttar once again matched Tykro Pound Sand jump for jump inside Revolution Place, the socially-distanced crowed erupted in cheer as he reached the 8 and was scored 86.5 points.

For his efforts, Buttar collected $1,050, 42 Canadian and 5.5 world points, allowing him to further his stronghold on the nation’s No. 1 ranking as he seeks his first PBR Canada Championship.

Buttar, who entered the event 99.5 points ahead of then No. 2 Brock Radford (De Winton, Alberta), is now 137 points ahead of Canada’s new second-ranked rider Garrett Green (Meeting Creek, Alberta).

Radford slipped in the standings following an uncharacteristic 2-second buckoff aboard Straight Up G (Vold Rodeo) in Round 1, which opened the door for Green to leap-frog him in the rankings. As one of eight riders to go a perfect 2-for-2, Green concluded the PBR Shell Rotella Challenge eighth, earning 6.5 Canadian points.

For West, he first rode Oldsmobile (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle) for 82.5 points in Round 1 to punch his ticket to the championship round.

In a career-defining moment, the 24-year-old recorded his first 90-point ride in the final round of the PBR Shell Rotella Challenge, conquering 2018 PBR Canada Bull of the Year Happy Camper (Two Bit Bucking Bulls) for a monstrous 90 points.

Along with the out marking the first 90-point score of West’s career, it was the first of the season on the Monster Energy Tour, and just second of the 2020 season on Canadian soil.

The perfect performance propelled the surging Albertan to a $1,10625 payday, while also earning him 42.5 Canadian and 5.5 world points.

Additionally, as part of the Shell Rotella Rugged Ride for Charity initiative, a $1,500 donation will be made to charity in recognition of West’s event-best 90-point score.

West is now firmly ranked inside the Top 10 of the PBR Canada national standings, catapulting to No. 8 and within 232 points of No. 1 Buttar.

Rounding out the Top 5 was Dayton Johnston (Milk River, Alberta), earning $427.5, 19.83 Canadian and 3 world points.

Johnston’s 2-for-2 performance included an 84.5-point trip on Down Crown (Vold Rodeo) in Round 1, and 86.5-point ride on Blow Me Away (Vold Rodeo) in the championship round.

He is now ranked No. 15 in the Canadian national standings, 25.67 points outside of the Top 10.   

In the bull pen, 10 of the 13 bulls contending for the 2020 PBR Canada Bull of the Year honor logged their first of two outs to be made at the 2020 PBR Canada Monster Energy Tour Finals.

As the high-marked bull of the event, Timber Jam (Vold Rodeo) erupted for a career-best, 45-point score compliments of his 3.43-second out with Shay Marks (Sunnybrook, Alberta) in the championship round to gain critical ground in the year-end race.

While three bulls are still in need of their first out of the 2020 PBR Canada Finals Week, Timber Jam climbed from No. 11 to now be tied for No. 2 alongside Happy Camper.

Happy Camper, Tykro Pound Sand and Finning Lil Shorty began the event atop the standings, however, Catch My Drift (Two Bit Bucking Bulls/K Rose Ranch) is now in firm control of the No. 1 ranking after he was marked 44.5 points Thursday evening when he bucked off Coy Robbins (Camrose, Alberta) in 3.19 seconds.

Catch My Drift leads No. 2 Happy Camper and Timber Jam by a slim 0.165 points. Finning Lil Shorty was marked 43 points on Thursday evening, slipping to No. 4 and 0.665 points back, while Tykro Pound Sand’s 42.5-point trip lead him to now be tied for No.5 , 0.915 points removed from the top spot.

Fans can tune in to a one-hour recap show from the PBR Shell Rotella Challenge on Tuesday, November 10 at 5:00 p.m. MT on TSN2, or relive all the action on RidePass starting at 8:00 a.m. ET on Friday, November 5 at RidePass.com or via the RidePass app available on iOS, Android and Roku.

The 2020 PBR Canada Monster Energy Tour Finals Week continues on Friday, November 5 with the PBR Wrangler Chute Out.

Action inside Revolution Place in Grande Prairie, Alberta, will get underway at 7:00 p.m. MST. For the second consecutive night, 25 of the world’s best bull riders will attempt one bull each, with the Top 10 advancing to the championship round. A critical 80 national and 15 world points will be on the line. All the action will be available LIVE on RidePass.

2020 PBR Canada Monster Energy Tour Finals Week – PBR Shell Rotella Challenge
Revolution Place – Grande Prairie, Alberta
Event Leaders (Round 1- Round 2-Event Aggregate-Canadian Points)
1. Zane Lambert, 84.5-88.5-173.00-63.33 Points.
(tie). Callum Miller, 86-87-173.00-66 Points.
3. Dakota Buttar, 86-86.5-172.50-42 Points.
(tie). Lonnie West, 82.5-90-172.50-42.5 Points.
5. Dayton Johnston, 84.5-86.5-171.00-19.83 Points.
6. Jake Gardner, 84.5-85.5-170.00-13.33 Points.
7. Jared Parsonage, 82-87-169.00-12.5 Points.
8. Garrett Green, 82.5-84.5-167.00-6.5 Points.
9. Coy Robbins, 81-0-81.00-2 Points.
10. Shay Marks, 75-0-75.00-1 Points.
Brock Radford, 0-0-0.00
Aaron Roy, 0-0-0.00
Logan Biever, 0-0-0.00
Nick Tetz, 0-0-0.00
Jordan Hansen, 0-0-0.00
Tim Lipsett, 0-0-0.00
Tanner Eno, 0-0-0.00
Fabian Dueck, 0-0-0.00
Micheal Ostashek, 0-0-0.00
Riley Gagnon, 0-0-0.00
Wacey Finkbeiner, 0-0-0.00
Todd Chotowetz, 0-0-0.00
Wyatt Gleeson, 0-0-0.00
Wade Marshall, 0-0-0.00
Zachery King, 0-0-0.00

2020 PBR Canada National Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5's, Points, Total Winnings)
1. Dakota Buttar, 12, 4, 8, 319.50, $23,557.07
2. Garrett Green, 8, 2, 3, 182.50, $11,238.98
3. Brock Radford, 12, 2, 5, 178.00, $14,569.85
4. Zane Lambert, 10, 1, 6, 172.83, $9,210.26
5. Jared Parsonage, 11, 0, 6, 149.50, $10,065.43
6. Logan Biever, 9, 1, 3, 97.00, $7,083.05
7. Ty Ellis, 6, 1, 2, 96.50, $3,804.60
8. Lonnie West, 7, 1, 3, 87.50, $4,181.47
9. Aaron Roy, 10, 0, 2, 86.00, $3,401.36
10. Callum Miller, 4, 1, 1, 76.00, $2,619.28
11. Jake Gardner, 9, 0, 4, 69.83, $3,994.67
12. Nick Tetz, 8, 0, 2, 69.50, $3,507.36
13. Tanner Eno, 8, 0, 2, 57.50, $2,050.50
14. Tim Lipsett, 7, 0, 2, 52.50, $2,211.98
15. Dayton Johnston, 6, 0, 2, 50.33, $2,279.40
16. Jordan Hansen, 6, 1, 1, 25.00, $2,518.13
17. Thor Hoefer II, 5, 0, 1, 20.00, $2,868.75
18. Dalton Rudman, 2, 0, 0, 18.50, $1,261.40
19. Jackson Scott, 6, 0, 0, 16.50, $550.38
20. Todd Chotowetz, 8, 0, 0, 15.00, $741.20
21. Dakota Louis, 3, 0, 1, 14.50, $1,875.31
22. Micheal Ostashek, 7, 0, 0, 14.00, $584.21
23. Zachary Laney, 2, 0, 0, 10.50, $463.25
24. Shay Marks, 11, 0, 1, 10.00, $1,197.08
24. Cody Casper, 2, 0, 1, 10.00, $1,275.00
26. Rosendo Ramirez, 1, 0, 0, 9.00, $370.60
27. Chad Hartman, 4, 0, 0, 8.50, $235.88
28. Fabian Dueck, 7, 0, 1, 7.00, $530.40
28. Wacey Finkbeiner, 5, 0, 0, 7.00, $775.63
30. Kache Moosman, 1, 0, 0, 5.00, $0.00
30. Koby Kile, 3, 0, 1, 5.00, $655.21
32. Wyatt Gleeson, 9, 0, 0, 4.50, $0.00
33. Austin Richardson, 2, 0, 0, 3.00, $0.00
34. Coy Robbins, 3, 0, 0, 2.00, $0.00
34. Riley Gagnon, 6, 0, 0, 2.00, $166.60
36. Cole Young, 5, 0, 0, 1.00, $223.13
36. Nick Goncalves, 1, 0, 0, 1.00, $0.00
36. Tyler Craig, 2, 0, 0, 1.00, $133.88
39. Marcos Gloria, 3, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Lane Mellers, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Weston Hartman, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Italo Aguilar Goncalves, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Cody Hudson, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Wade Marshall, 5, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Isaac Mack, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Cawl Braithwaite, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Griffin Smeltzer, 3, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Lane Paley, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $148.75
39. Zachery King, 6, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Wyatt Covington, 3, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Ashton Sahli, 3, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Cameron Brown, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Jayde Murphy, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Desmond Lambert, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Chris Young, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Tehiko Neill, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Austin Allred, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Cole Harris, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00