Dustin Egusquiza and JC Flake debuted their 2025 ProRodeo partnership with a $6,830-a-man weekend May 28-June 1, highlighted by a 3.3-second run to win the Durant Pro Rodeo in Oklahoma.
This start to the summer was crucial for the new team as Flake, who finished 17th in the 2024 race, is still working to break into the top 50 of the world standings. A potentially daunting situation for some, the Milsap, Texas, heeler is in no rush.
“It was a terrible winter, it was awful,” Flake, 26, admitted. “With having Dustin, of course, I’m just trying to stay with the most positive outlook as possible. Just go steer by steer and try not to look at the standings until the end of the season and see where you end up. I think there’s plenty of money to be won in the summertime.”
On the other end of the spectrum, seven-time NFR header Egusquiza sits third in the world standings with $69,390.38 won on the year. While starting the summer with a new partner isn’t exactly stressful, the 29-year-old is focused on helping Flake reach the NFR.
“Since I’m in the position that I’m in with $70,000 won, and JC’s in the position that he’s in with little won before last week, that’s probably a little bit more pressure,” Egusquiza said. “I want to get him to the NFR, and we got a long mountain to climb before we get there, but as long as we do our jobs, it’s what we’re supposed to do, then we should be able to get him there.”
Practice pen reset
Though brothers-in-law, Egusquiza and Flake haven’t roped together as much as one would expect. With Egusquiza already having had first, second and third partners lined up, the only place the two had roped together much is the practice pen. But what they’ve done in the practice pen has clearly transferred over to the real deal.
“He has got great horses,” Egusquiza said of Flake. “I mean, it makes the run feel good. He’s there, and he’s going to heel them fast. I like that about JC; he throws fast and it gives us a better chance to win first. And he’s good at it too–he’s good at rodeo heeling. So, our run has felt pretty good, and we have been practicing a lot. We’ve been going at a lot of steers trying to get ready since we had a short amount of time to get ready. But it’s felt really good in the practice pen, and it was cool that it transferred over to the rodeos. It’s something to build off of.”
The practice pen runs and a good first week to town was important for Flake, whose last ProRodeo was Logandale, Nevada, in early April. With getting married in May, there wasn’t really much time to enter up. And while that break might have been a mental challenge for some, it actually recharged Flake.
“I think just making runs at the house kind of let us get a run together and do a little good,” Flake said. “I really liked this weekend. We got to go to some before we leave for the summertime. There for a minute, I got married and then I went on a honeymoon, so I really didn’t go anywhere for three weeks. But I think it was almost good–kind of makes you where when you get home be ready to go. Like, you’re ready to roll out because you had a little break.”
Welcome to the record books
Egusquiza and Flake kicked their weekend off at the Mt Pleasant Rodeo in Texas May 28, where their 3.7-second run pulled them a third-place check for $2,273 apiece. That 3.7 would sound off a quick weekend.
“A 3.7 at Mt Pleasant, usually you don’t feel like you’re going to leave there and win it, but I mean, that felt like a pretty decent chance to win the rodeo, and then all of a sudden it won third,” Egusquiza said.
Egusquiza and Flake headed from Mt Pleasant to Hugo, Oklahoma, followed by the Old Fort Days Rodeo in Fort Smith, Arkansas, May 29, where they picked up $2,546 a man for third and fourth with a 4.0. They hit up the inaugural Music City Rodeo in Nashville, Tennessee, for slack May 30, before Durant that same evening.
Their steer at Durant was less-than ideal: Fast, goes left and low-headed, is what they were told. Egusquiza decided to throw before he got running.
“We’ll just go at him and see if we can catch him before he starts running too fast,” Egusquiza said. “And I had no intentions of being 3.3, but that was pretty awesome.”
*Note: Egusquiza and Flake unofficialed the Durant Pro Rodeo, meaning the money won doesn’t count for the world standings or their rodeo counts.*
That 3.3-second run not only pocketed them $2,011 a man, but it also made them co-owners of the PRCA world record.
“That was unreal,” Flake said. “We got told our steer wasn’t very good, and it was the last one of the weekend. So, we just said we were going to try to go as fast as we possibly can and just have fun with it. Our steer ain’t very good, so we were going to try to just make the best run we possibly could. And then everything felt in control and felt good. But after the run, it felt like it was a blur, really. I mean, that was the fastest time I’ve ever been in my whole life. It was like I looked up and saw the clock and I was like, ‘No way; there’s no way we were just 3.3.'”
New mounts fuel big weekend
It takes some top-of-the-line horsepower to tie the world record. After selling “Ranger,” registered as Cabs Cab and the gelding he won San Antonio on, Egusquiza was searching for something with speed. After practicing on a gelding of Flake’s–which Flake’s wife heels on and Egusquiza’s wife heads on–Egusquiza decided to give him a shot.
“He’s really easy to rope on, and he pulls and faces really good,” Egusquiza said. “I wanted to take him for a week and see if he was going to be good enough to take this summer or not, and we had a dang good week. I don’t even know if he’s ever been to a rodeo heading. I think he’s been breakawayed on at the rodeos, maybe, but I don’t think he’s ever been to a rodeo heading.”
On the heel side, Flake rode a 10-year-old mare he just added to his herd: PlayinMetallicaFuel. By Metallic Cat out of Playin Shorty, Flake bought “Elinor” from two-time World Champ Paul Eaves in April, right before his wedding. It wasn’t until after honeymooning in May that Elinor and Flake got acquainted. Flake knew she was fast and gritty, but the hard-running steer they drew at Fort Smith sealed his opinion of her.
“Dustin did an amazing job, (the steer) kind of stepped left, and my mare, she really proved there how good she is because our steer wasn’t easy to get around to the end of him,” Flake explained. “He was running pretty hard and Dustin throws his rope so far, so you really got to be going as fast as they possibly can go. She really surprised me there and showed me how fast she really is. She really makes your job easier.”
Next up
Egusquiza and Flake head next to the Parker County Sheriffs Posse Frontier Days and PRCA Rodeo in Weatherford, Texas, June 10, followed by the Woodward Elks Rodeo in Oklahoma. While Flake’s still playing catch-up in the world standings, he knows he’s in good hands.
“My mindset now is Dustin’s going to spin a lot of steers, and they’re all going to be usually for first,” Flake said. “My goal is to ride the corner the best I can and make sure to catch two feet every time I get the chance. If I ride the corner right, I should be able to catch two feet.”
