Dustin Egusquiza and JC Flake opened their 2026 season with $6,415 a man for the Sandhills Stock Show & Rodeo win in Odessa, Texas, Jan. 17.
Egusquiza and Flake roped two head in 8.3 seconds, giving them an early jump in the PRCA team roping world standings with $17,379.87 won thus far. For eight-time NFR header Egusquiza, it also marked the fourth Odessa title of his career.
“I like all these indoor winter rodeos, just kind of fit the bill for that,” Egusquiza, 30, said. “But I’ve definitely had way more success at [Odessa] for whatever reason. Pretty much the first rodeo of the year, to get it kicked off good is always nice.”
It was also a testament to his strong winter-rodeo track record.
“I’ve only had one not-great winter, and we still won $20,000 or something before Reno,” Egusquiza explained. “I don’t really know what happened that year, but things just weren’t clicking. But it seems like all the rodeos pay good this time of year, too, and you get to run a lot of steers. That’s another thing about ’em I like. I like to get in a rhythm at a rodeo, and the first one to get it out of the way and then after that you get a really good feel for what the rodeo is and what the start is. I probably like that the most, I would say, about the winter rodeos; you get there and you can run four, five, six steers and kind of get tapped off rather than in the summertime where you drive eight hours and run one at Cody and drive another four or five hours wherever you go and run one steer and just keep doing that.”
Flake, on the other hand, hasn’t had the winter success he knows is vital for a good year. The early-season paycheck marks a turning point for the 27-year-old.
“It’s way better having money headed into Reno than it has been the last couple years,” Flake said with a laugh. “I think I’ve just been not trying to beat myself in the wintertime as much and almost slowing down to be fast. Sometimes I get caught up going too fast.”
How to win Odessa
Egusquiza and Flake kicked Odessa off with the Round 1 win with a 4.1 for $2,202 a man, despite knowing little on the steers.
“I guess we didn’t really know much about our steers either run,” Egusquiza said. “They just got jackpotted on, and we didn’t find a video of them. But we drew two pretty similar steers, and I think that’s a big part of our success, or anybody’s success. The team roping, you got to draw decent.”
They came back with a 4.2-second run in Round 2, adding another $910 apiece to their earnings.
“Dustin did a good job and got it on ’em fast,” Flake said. “We did good on the first one. I kind of missed my dallies, but they were nice enough to us and let us win the first round. The second round, we just tried to make sure to get ’em captured and ended up being faster than we thought we were going to be. We were just trying to go to the lead in the average. There were a couple teams after us that could beat us, but it just fell our way.”
Egusquiza rode Cajun Treat, aka “Cajun,” while Flake was back on Eleanor, registered PlayinMetallicaFuel, for the first time since May 2025.
“That was our first rodeo back since Durant,” Flake said. “So, that was actually the best part about Odessa, getting to ride her again.”
Off on the right foot
Despite being brothers-in-law, Egusquiza and Flake hadn’t really ran many steers together before pairing up last May. Once the 2025 season ended, though, they started fine-tuning their run together in the practice pen.
“I feel like our run’s getting a lot more consistent and I’m able to do a better job on hazing the steers for him,” Flake said. “We’re kind of getting in a rhythm more than we were last year. He’s one of the most different partners I’ve ever roped with because he likes them straight or going to the right and then he hits them so fast, so there’s a fine line of being too late or being too early and messing up his throw.”
Though Flake found himself at No. 24 in the final PRCA world heeling standings last year, they found some late-season rhythm and are bringing that momentum into the new year.
“I feel like we could have probably made [the NFR] last year, but I didn’t rope very good in the summertime,” Egusquiza admitted. “And we got to come home, and we practiced together a lot before the Finals with Hempstead and Rosenberg and all that. We ran a lot of steers together, and I feel like we really started to click better. He throws fast, he has great horses and if I turn the steer, I feel like we should have a plenty successful year.”
