Clint Summers and Jake Long won their first NFR average titles after pocketing $199,354.55 a man in the Thomas & Mack in 2024, roping nine steers in 44.30 seconds for the aggregate win.
The duo from Lake City, Florida and Coffeyville, Kansas finished second in the PRCA world standings for the second-straight year in a race that came down to the final steer of the final round of the 10-head battle.
“We were shooting for a gold one and this one,” Summers, 33, said, holding the average buckle in the NFR press room after Round 10. “We knew it was going to be hard to get gold. Them guys roped so good. But our main goal was to come here and do the best we could, and we roped good all week. We weren’t really talked about much. And then here at the end, look up and we’ve had an amazing week.”
Their amazing week came off a first-round no-time with a miss on the head side, forcing them to battle back to second in the average going into Round 10, behind Clay Smith and Coleby Payne, who’d led the average most of the 10 days. Smith and Payne went early in that final round, taking their first no-time of the week and shuffling the average and world standings race entirely.
“I would’ve lost everything I own that Clay Smith was going to miss that steer,” Long said. “I just didn’t think it would happen. But I knew if that happened to happen, it gave us a really good chance at the year-end. We were pretty long shots. If Clay would’ve caught, we would’ve really had to have some things go our way. But we just looked at each other when that happened and kind of knew like, ‘Hey, we’re going to try to put a rundown.’ And then we made a great run. I was really happy with it. He just drilled the barrier. And then I thought we made as good a run as you can make on that cow. And we just turned around in the alleyway and were like, man, if they beat us, they beat us. And I’m fine with getting beat. I mean, we came out here, we rope sharp, we roped good all week, I thought. And they just beat us this week. And that’s fine.”
Summers didn’t have it figured out exactly what he needed to do to win the world, but he did have a longtime friend with a little bit of experience in that scenario in the box with him to help him figure it out.
“Kaleb (Driggers), he’s down there with me,” Summers said. “He’s two teams after me, but wouldn’t get on his horse until after I roped. And my brain don’t work as fast as a lot of theirs. I just was going to try to make our run. But Kaleb says, ‘Hey listen, the barrier won’t matter. So you need to get in the barrier as much as you can and try to put some heat on them.’ And so that’s what I did. And the run felt great.”
Their 4.0 won fourth in the round, two holes behind eventual World Champs Tyler Wade and Wesley Thorp, who’s 3.8 sealed the deal for them on the gold buckles. But nobody was better over 10 rounds in Las Vegas than Summers and Long, who also passed team roping’s all-time season earnings record set by Driggers and Nogueira in 2022. Their $342,501 was shy of the $361,480 Wade and Thorp amassed, but it is still the second-highest amount of money a team of ropers has ever won in PRCA competition in a season.
“Either way, we are making a living with a rope,” Summers said. “And that’s all we can ask for. I’ve never dreamed to win as much as we did last year, and I think we won more than that this year. So we’re thankful and blessed to be here doing what we love to do.”
The aggregate win also underscored the career of Summers’ iconic head horse, WSR Hesa Alive, who, at 20, is considered one of the GOATs of the game.
“I wish they could just engrave ‘Transmission’ on this buckle, because he deserves it,” Summers said with a smile. “I give Transmission and Jake all the credit.”
Long counted on his unassuming gelding JC Bar Diamond, 12, all week long. Back in 2023, Long wasn’t even sure he should ride “Roger” in the Thomas & Mack, but after four go-round wins that year, the gelding proved he deserved to be there.
“He don’t get none of the notoriety, but he honestly probably saved my career as much as anything,” Long said. “He come along at a really, really special time. I think it was a Godsend thing that he come into my life, and he’s just been awesome. He’s just solid, and I’ve said it before: He’s the closest thing I’ve been on since Colonel, just in the feel of him. And I mean, I’ve won a lot of money on him and he’s just been a blessing to me and my family.”
