Tanner Tomlinson and Travis Graves topped one of the toughest rounds in NFR team roping history in Round 6 of the 2025 Finals, stopping the clock at 3.4 seconds worth $36,667 a man.

Tomlinson and Graves have $276,605 and $242,717 won on the year, respectively, putting them first and second in the PRCA world standings. They are fourth in the aggregate with a time of 26.5 on five head. They’ve won $92,798 a man so far in Las Vegas in 2025.

By the time they Tomlinson and Graves roped at fourth out, Clint Summers and Jade Corkill’s 3.5 was already winning the day money. And they knew the steer they drew—the one Lightning Aguilera and Kaden Profili split Round 3 with—wasn’t a cakewalk.

“I didn’t think he was going to be easy,” Tomlinson, 25, said. “But I knew he was going to be great. We’ve drawn good the last two nights. I told myself I was going to go aggressive. Marshall feels outstanding. Chip and TG are tapped off. I’m not looking at anything else—I’m going at ’em every single night.”

Graves swapped to his great 16-year-old gelding Dual Chip (Dual Spark out of Zans Leo Girl by Zans Diamond Sun) in Round 5 after spending most of the year on Golden Boy Boon, and it proved to be the right call.

“He’s an unbelievable horse,” Graves, 41, said. “He scores so good. That’s everything here. I felt like I was late on Boon and couldn’t get to my spot. Chip lets me get out in the arena and get where I can throw fast.”

Graves found that spot and never looked rushed.

“It didn’t feel hard,” he said. “I was in the perfect spot and made it easy.”

From their angle, it was obvious something special was happening in the building. Summers and Corkill’s 3.5 had lit the place up. Then teams kept hammering at it.

“I kind of felt like an idiot celebrating,” Tomlinson joked. “Especially when there was a 3.1 and 3.3 tonight. It’s crazy how good roping is these days. Nothing feels safe. It felt like 30 teams, and every one of them was tapped off.”

Graves agreed.
“These guys are really good,” he said. “This will go down in the history books as one of the toughest of all time.”

The cattle helped, too.

“They’re amazing,” Tomlinson said. “Bobby Joe’s done an outstanding job with everything he’s had to deal with at the border. Great set of steers. Great ropers. What else can you get?”

The 3.4 was the fastest NFR run of Tomlinson’s career. Graves had been 3.5 before but never 3.4.

“I’m trying to be 3.2 from here on out,” Tomlinson said with a grin. “Coming in here trying to just catch—that ain’t me. I want to be 3.2 every night unless there’s a spot where I have to just catch.”

Graves didn’t argue. The money forces the pace.

“It pays $36,000 a night. You have to go win money.”

“If you just go catch and then something dumb happens on the last steer, you look back and think about how much that money adds up,” Tomlinson added.

Both horses—Marshall (registered as Missn Cowboy Sioux by Cowboys Missn 214 out of CJ Sugar Sioux by CJ Charles) for Tomlinson and Chip for Graves—have stories of their own. Marshall’s comeback has been long and emotional, bouncing from a vet’s order to put him down to carrying Tomlinson to wins at winter rodeos and now an NFR victory lap.

“It’s God’s story,” Tomlinson said. “I’m super blessed.”

Graves wasn’t sure he’d be riding Chip again either. The horse battled through a stifle surgery and years of uncertainty.

“Two years ago I thought I couldn’t do it to him anymore,” Graves said. “But Charlie Buchanan is the reason I’m riding him now. My son can ride him. I can do this right here. Tomorrow Tee could go ride him again. He’s a freak.”

In the aggregate race, Summers and Corkill moved to first with a 25.5 on six head—the only team with six clean runs—after leaders Andrew Ward and Jake Long took a no-time. Summers is second in the world standings with $253,054, while Corkill is first with $253,379.

Kolton Schmidt and Jonathan Torres were 3.6 in Round 6 and moved to second in the aggregate with a 19.9 on 5 head. They’ve won the most of anyone at the Finals with $122,468 a man and $242,406 and $234,140 on the year, respectively, and they’re third in the world.

Round 6 NFR Team Roping Results