Hayes Smith and Justin Davis came from 10th high call Sunday, July 28, to win the 2024 Cheyenne Frontier Days team roping—a significant win for many reasons.
The team took the win with an 8.3 in the clean-slate short round for $9,200 each, bringing their Cheyenne earnings to $11,925 a man. Because of its prestige, Cheyenne marks one of the biggest wins in any team roper’s career and a win everyone dreams of.
“It’s a dream come true,” Smith, 31, said. “It’s just one of them rodeos that we grew up dreaming of winning, roping the Fast Lane when we were kids, letting it out there. It’s hard to explain.”
For 2009 NFR heeler Davis, the win in Cheyenne was a relief after over 15 years of entering the rodeo. But its true significance lies in the story of his best friend, the late Broc Cresta.
“Just like Hayes said, you grow up and you watch ‘8 Seconds,'” Davis, 36, explained, referencing the 1994 film commemorating the short life of rodeo legend Lane Frost. “It’s like Lane Frost and Tuff Hedeman, flying over saying ‘There it is boys, the Daddy of ’em All.’
READ: Broc Cresta: The Legend Lives On
“They only give away one champion in each event every year, and it’s tough to be the champion,” Davis continued. “I know a few guys that got a couple of them, but to have one is so special. And for me, my best buddy died here 12 years ago today, on this day. So, I guess I had an angel with us today.”
Fit for the Cheyenne battle
Cheyenne is notorious for its 30-foot score, and Smith and Davis like long scores because that’s what they grew up on at rodeos like Salinas, Red Bluff and Clovis. They started their Cheyenne marathon in the team roping slack July 14 and advanced to the Quarterfinals with a 9.0-second run. They roped again in Cheyenne 11 days later in the final performance of the Quarterfinals. Smith and Davis tied for second and third in their set with a 10.4-second run for $1,125 each.
With a 9.3 in Semifinals 1, Smith and Davis pocketed $1,600 a man for fifth in the round and advanced to Sunday’s short round where they drew the best steer in the herd.
“He was just most definitely better than the rest,” Smith, of Central Point, Oregon, said. “He was good, perfect speed, straight down the middle, had great horns and hopped good. We couldn’t have drew him up any better.”
The third team out, Smith and Davis stopped the clock with an 8.3 to lead the short round. With nine teams left to rope, Smith and Davis had to sit and watch as the short round unfolded, knowing they did their jobs.
“We also knew the way that the steers were,” Davis, from Cottonwood, California, said. “Honestly, I don’t really know that ours fit the herd; it’s not like he was just a trotter, he was just a little better than the rest if you used him right. Knowing that, our best pals, Riley and Brady (Minor), had the next best steer, so we were really hoping that they’d catch and we’d just one-and-two them right there. But Brady got a leg, but I think they still won fifth. But other than that, it went from 8.3 to 10.0, so that kind of shows you the way the steers were. We just capitalized on it.”
That 8.3 reigned supreme, and they walked away the Cheyenne champions.
Cheyenne horsepower
Smith’s Cheyenne mount wears many hats, from ProRodeo horse to family horse. Best known as Hitman, but also called “Eeyore” by Davis and “Good Gray” by Smith’s daughter, Smith bought the gelding registered as Spotted Gun three years ago after the horse made his rounds with Brandon Webb, Kaleb Driggers and Jeff Flenniken.
“It took a little while to get it working, but once we got together, I’ve never had an easier feeling turning steers, getting out on the barrier,” Smith said. “He’s 18 years old now. My kid loves him—she’s 2 years old and rides him around, yells at him, leads him around.”
Davis‘ heel horse “Hank” is also a been-there-done-that gelding whom he bought in June from Lane Mitchell.
“We’ve been trying to learn each other, and we’ve had a few ups and downs,” Davis said. “But I really like him. He’s a pretty cool little horse.”
The Cheyenne marker
Smith and Davis were 50th and 37th in the world standings prior to the Daddy, but their $11,925 payday in Cheyenne should bump them roughly to the top 35 with $40,529 for Smith and $44,625 for Davis.
“Hayes didn’t rodeo all winter, and I roped with Keven Daniel this winter,” Davis explained. “Then I went home, and we just rodeoed in California. Honestly, we were circuit rodeoing and we got in the top 50 for him. We’ve done pretty good, considering where we’ve been and especially for Hayes not going to anything until Red Bluff, pretty much, in April.”
Davis qualified for the NFR in 2009 and, in 2016, he ended the year 16th in the standings. Then, he began heeling for Smith, and the pair roped together in 2017, part of 2018 and 2021. They finished 18th and 22nd in 2017 and 20th and 21st in 2021. In 2024, they both had the plan of going home after Cheyenne if they weren’t successful but now, a boost in the standings just may make them stay out on the road.
“It would probably make me leave the house,” Smith said with a laugh. “Cheyenne’s the marker for a lot.”
Since their first year of roping together seven years ago, Smith and Davis have developed a run they feel works, slowing down to be fast.
“We both go rope with somebody else and then we always end up back together because we know we win together,” Davis said. “And we’re good friends—that makes it easy. You got to have somebody that, if you’re pretty much going to live with them, you better like them. We have similar interests: we like to golf, we like to hunt, we like to rope. We get along with everything we do.”
