When Travis Graves backed in on Dual Chip in Round 6 of the 2025 NFR, it marked a turning point in a story that nearly ended twice.

Graves and Tanner Tomlinson won the round in 3.4 seconds—Graves’ fastest NFR run of his career—and Chip was a major reason why. After spending most of the season on his younger horse Golden Boy Boon, Graves made the switch on a night when the round was rolling fast and nothing short of perfect positioning would keep them competitive.

Tomlinson and Graves have $276,605 and $242,717 won on the year, respectively, putting them first and second in the PRCA world standings, with Dual Chip giving Graves a shot again at the PRCA world title. 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.

“He’s an unbelievable horse,” Graves said after the win. “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.”

Chip delivered. Graves was in the right spot, and the run felt automatic.

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

A Career That Almost Ended

Chip’s comeback is one of the more unlikely in the pen. Graves has been candid for years about thinking the gelding might be finished after feet troubles and a stifle injury.

“Two years ago, I thought I couldn’t do it to him anymore,” Graves said. “I didn’t want to. But the surgeries and everybody who stepped in at the Signature Equine, they’re the only reason he’s here.”

Dual Chip’s Roots: The Dual Spark Connection

Dual Chip is by Dual Spark, Bobby Lewis’s 2004 stallion who became a respected crossover sire in both the cow horse and rope horse worlds. Dual Spark—by Dual Pep and out of a Shining Spark mare Doolittle Lena—passed in 2021 in Brazil, leaving behind a small but powerful group of rope horses known for their try, cow and ability to stay honest in pressure situations.

That Dual Pep × Shining Spark combination has produced a long line of head and heel horses with the same traits Chip showed in Round 6: speed, talent and no drama.

Chip has always fit that profile. Joseph Harrison and Bobby Lewis both won on the horse early in his career, from the cow horse to the roping pen. Harrison also found success on the horse’s siblings, including Lula Dual, a mare Harrison rodeoed to make the Finals on. Dual Chip was gritty to a fault, and keeping him sound was never easy. Graves stuck with him through rehab and resets because the horse did things very few can.

Why Chip Works at the NFR

Chip’s ability to stand still in the corner and leave flat is why Graves brought him back inside the Thomas & Mack. On a night when the round had already produced a 3.5 before they even nodded, Graves needed a setup where he could match the pace.

“Scoring good here is everything,” Graves said. “Chip gives me that. He lets me get out when I need to and get to my spot.”

Chip didn’t just let Graves get there—he let him be on time, aggressive and clean in a round that demanded it.

Not Done Yet

The 3.4 was a validation of everything the horse has been through: the surgeries, the doubts, the nearly-retired conversations, and the slow, deliberate work to bring him back.

“Two years ago I wrote him off—not wrote him off, but I thought I couldn’t do it to him,” Graves said. “And now here he is. A freak. Really.”

Chip isn’t the future of Graves’ herd—he’s the horse who wasn’t supposed to still be here. But in Round 6, he looked like the one who still belongs in the bright lights.

And based on Graves’ grin walking out of the arena, Chip made it clear he’s not finished yet.