Brazile has record-setting steer roping performance
MULVANE, Kan. – There doesn’t appear to be anything Trevor Brazile can’t do in the rodeo arena.
The legendary cowboy from Decatur, Texas, had his magic working again at the Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping, Nov. 6-7.
Brazile won two rounds (3 and 6) and placed in four others to capture his record 22nd gold buckle – and sixth in steer roping – at the Kansas Star Arena.
“It’s great,” said Brazile, 38. “I really love this venue. It’s perfect for this event. You have the perfect situation for fans to come and enjoy it. Thanks to Kansas Star Arena and the PRCA, and one of the coolest things about it is that new Polaris (RANGER). This is the third Polaris I’ve won, but they never get old.”
“It’s great. I really love this venue. It’s perfect for this event. You have the perfect situation for fans to come and enjoy it. … This is the third Polaris I’ve won, but they never get old.” Trevor Brazile, cowboy
This is the second year the NFSR has taken place at the Kansas Star Arena, and Brazile won the Polaris RANGER for winning the gold buckle.
Brazile did his best to rewrite the record book at this NFSR.
He won $62,390, shattering his previous NFSR record total of $46,500, which he set in 2007. He won the world title with a single-season steer roping record of $121,112, eclipsing the old record of $112,692 he won last year.
Brazile has won gold buckles in steer roping in 2006-07, 2011, 2013-15. That puts him in a tie for second place on the steer roping world championship list with Everett Shaw. Guy Allen is atop the steer roping gold buckle chart with 18.
“There will never be another Guy Allen,” Brazile said.
Vin Fisher Jr., who came into the NFSR as the leader, finished second in the 2015 world standings with $97,180.
For good measure, Brazile also took home the average crown with a new record time of 111.3 seconds on 10 head. That time broke the average record of 114.1 seconds on 10 head he set last year.
JoJo LeMond was second in the average at 126.6 seconds on 10 head, and was the only roper besides Brazile to stop the clock 10 times.
Despite Brazile’s amazing NFSR, he said the results didn’t come easily. He entered the second and final performance of the NFSR Nov. 7 ranked third in the world standings and first in the average, but just 1.6 seconds ahead of Jess Tierney.
“Jess put us all on watch,” Brazile said of opening night. “He won three rounds and he made me, even though I was winning the average, come out and go at them. The pressure he was putting on me was the only reason I tied one in (8.8 seconds) to win the sixth round. He had won so much, I just knew I had to win.”
Brazile had the average lead after the first performance Nov. 6, with a 56.9-second time on five head, thanks to winning Round 3 and placing third in Round 1, and sixth in Rounds 2 and 5. On the final day, he was the Round 6 champ, was runner-up in Round 8 and split sixth place in Round 10.
The main drama Brazile faced in Round 10 was trying to set the NFSR average record. He needed a 13.0-second run to tie his average mark, and he clocked 10.2 seconds to crush the record.
“That steer actually almost ducked back to the left, so I was just trying to make sure that when I left there I didn’t want to miss the barrier much,” Brazile said.
Brazile also increased his number of National Finals go-round wins to a combined 59 in team roping, tie-down roping and steer roping, including 33 rounds in steer roping, which puts him behind only Allen (47).
–PRCA
