Just $83 separates No. 1 and 2 in the 2025 Southeastern Circuit heading standings, and Braxton Culpepper is leading the charge.

The 24-year-old from Sylvester, Georgia, sits No. 1 with $20,693.49 won on the year, with four-time NFR qualifier Keven Daniel close behind with $20,610.35. Five-time Southeastern Circuit champion Bradley Massey is right there with them, and Culpepper—who won the circuit in 2022–sees this neck-and-neck race lasting the rest of the season.

“The top three or four headers in our circuit are pretty tight right there, and they all head really good,” Culpepper said. “So it’s going to be pretty tough I think.”

$20K by June

No PRCA circuit is the same, so $20,000 won at the beginning of June may sound crazy to some. The Southeastern Circuit picks back up relatively quick each year, starting quietly in October with their peak season in February and March.

Culpepper got the 2025 ball rolling quickly, pocketing $4,494 in October alone. What has been key in his year, however, was the success he saw at the circuit’s larger rodeos. Culpepper picked up $1,237 a man out of the Dixie National Rodeo in Jackson, Mississippi, followed shortly by the 154th Silver Spurs Rodeo win in Kissimmee, Florida, for $3,915 a man. He won $2,094 apiece in Montgomery, Alabama, at the Southeastern Livestock Exposition, and he later won second at the Old Fort Days Rodeo in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for $3,183 a man.

“Kissimmee Jackson, Fort Smith–all of those rodeos–are always exciting to go to because you’ll get to see some of the bigger-named dudes,” Culpepper said. “And if you do good, it makes you feel like you did something.”

Culpepper has a familiar face on the heel side, too, who offers some expertise. Culpepper heads for his dad Brad, whose name can be found in Southeastern Circuit and ProRodeo record books. Brad qualified for seven NFRs and won back-to-back NFR average titles in 1998 and 1999. In the Southeast, Brad holds the record for the most year-end championships. Roping with his dad and having his ProRodeo knowledge at his disposal has been a game changer for Culpepper.

READ: Contrasting Two Types of Heeling Position with Brad Culpepper

“I told somebody the other day that I don’t get as pressured up,” Culpepper said of roping with his dad. “If I make a mistake, it doesn’t pressure me up at the next one as much as if I was roping with somebody that I’m not really good buddies with or know like the back of my hand. I’d be worried to death that, ‘Oh, I’m going to mess up for him again.’ I definitely feel more comfortable roping with him, that’s for sure. But I also feel like I can’t find a better run, personally. I know other people’s opinions aren’t the same, but I don’t feel like I could find a better run. And I’m not necessarily the best header, so that’s a plus. He’s been there and done a lot of it, so I’m proud of him and being able to rope with him.”

SEC Proud

After gaining experience in the amateur ranks—where the Southeast offers no shortage of opportunities—Culpepper felt ready to hit the next level. He was slightly surprised, however, by what that entailed.

“They always told me that when I got old enough to go to the circuit rodeos, I’d like it because it’s not as hard to win at ’em as it is the amateur rodeos because the amateur rodeos we go to, everybody can enter twice, so they kind of let their hair down every time and they try to make sure they catch at the circuit rodeos,” Culpepper said with a laugh. “But it hasn’t seemed like that. They seem just as tough when we get to them, so you’ve got to rope up at them. But I enjoy going to them; they’re a lot more fun. You feel like you’re going to something big when you go to them.”

A lot of great ropers have cut their teeth in the Southeast, too, like eight-time World Champ Speed Williams. Culpepper thinks it’s time people realize the talent that the Southeastern Circuit produces.

“Sometimes people, they don’t seem like they give the Southeast much respect in the team roping department,” Culpepper said. “But there’s a lot of guys in our circuit that I feel like if they wanted to go rodeo, they’d have some success. I’m not saying they’d be Top 15 in the world, but I feel like they’d be top 20, 25. They’d have a chance.”

Not letting up

With the summer being a quieter time for the Southeastern Circuit, Culpepper feels good but not quite comfortable with the money he has entering June.

“I just looked the other day at what won the circuit this past year and I can’t remember exactly, but it was in the higher twenties, so I feel good about my chances,” Culpepper said. “But Keven, Bradley Massey, Marcus (Theriot), all them guys, they’ve got close to the same amount won, so it’s still pretty tense. We’ll all be at the same rodeos. Marcus isn’t really rodeoing hard this year, and Bradley and Keven, they circuit rodeo pretty hard, so pretty much every rodeo is going to be battling it out.”

Culpepper still carries some confidence after his 2022 season, though. When the Culpeppers took home the year-end titles that fall, they had won enough during the regular season to make them uncatchable in in Davie, Florida.

“It makes me feel like I’m supposed to be there,” Culpepper said. “I feel like if I hadn’t won it, I would still have to prove myself. Now I feel like if I just go do my job, it’s going to be good enough.”

Culpepper will focus on the circuit rodeos this summer, as well as the IPRA scene, with hopes of hitting the road next summer. When it comes to filling his father’s big shoes, Culpepper feels some pressure, but he’s keeping his goals clear.

“I do, and it’s kind of overwhelming to try to reach that because it is just hard,” Culpepper admitted. “But no matter what, I want to make the NFR one day. I want to achieve some of the things he’s done. I might not can achieve all of them, but I would like to.”