Texas’ Clay Emmons and Doug A. Miller won $25,000 and $10,000 Ram Truck vouchers after winning the #8 RAM Exclusive with a time of 41.05 seconds on four head. 

“We didn’t know,” Miller said. “We just knew we’d be up there a little bit but we had no clue that we’d be high team. We just knew that we would be in there and needed to rope another clean one.”

Emmons and Miller came into the short round in the number-one spot and just needed to knock down a good, clean run to win the average. When the pressure was on Emmons roped his steer clean but couldn’t seem to get a quick dally. 

“On our last run Clay roped him to be 8- or 9-seconds but he just couldn’t get his dally,” Miller said. “We went down the arena a ways before he turned him and I had to follow him about 5 jumps to get a good throw. We were 11-seconds on him—that was our longest run. We broke a barrier on our second steer but that last steer was our longest one.”

Miller rode a mare named Olive who help him catch two feet all day. 

“That’s a mare that I bought from Chris Francis,” Miller said with pride about his horse. “She’s a good one let me tell you. Every steer I roped she put them on the ground. She can really run too.”

Miller also mentioned that Emmons’ horse that helped out to secure the average win. 

“That’s a really solid horse and he really fits Clay,” Miller said. “He is a really nice horse—can run and handle cattle.”

Emmons and Miller met just a little over a year ago when they both needed last minute partners in the World Series of Team Roping’s Heartland Finale in Hamilton, Texas.

“He’s from East Texas and I’m from West Texas,” Miller said. “We only see each other when we go to a roping. We met a year ago at Hamilton (Texas). We each needed another partner and a friend of mine hooked us up. They were friends too, so he hooked us up and we’ve roped together ever since when we’re at the same roping.”

What will Miller do with his share of the $25,000?

“I’ll buy more ropes I guess,” Miller laughed. “That’s the best thing isn’t it?”