With less than a month remaining in the 2022 ProRodeo regular season, Eric Fabian and Derek Carey are leading the First Frontier Circuit standings, with their sights set on winning the circuit championship title and a qualification to the Ram NFR Open in 2023.

Currently, Fabian ranks No. 1 in the headers standings with $10,306.83 in PRCA earnings, while Carey ranks No. 1 in the heelers standings with $9,592.43. Their lead is just $300 over the No. 2 team of Pennsylvania’s Waylon Cameron and Scot Brown, but their $6,000 lead over the No. 12 team, guarantees them a spot at this year’s finals.

“We’re friends first,” Carey, 35, of Valley Falls, New York, said of Fabian. “Roping with him and I just comes easy.”

The team has roped together for the majority of Fabian’s ProRodeo career, which began in 2012, while Carey’s began in 2009. This year will be their fourth consecutive circuit finals together, though they’ve competed in a number of circuit finals together throughout the years.

After finishing second at the First Frontier Circuit Finals last year, Fabian and Carey were qualified to compete at the inaugural NFR Open, held in Colorado Springs, Colorado, July 13­–16, 2022.

“We made it to the NFR Open in Colorado Springs and that was pretty neat,” said Fabian, 31, of Gansevoort, New York. “It paid well and it was a really cool experience. We will definitely always be aiming for that.” 

With eight rodeos left in the circuit, Fabian and Carey will remain focused on maintaining their lead heading into the circuit finals. This week, they will rope at the Apple Hill Stables Rodeo in Levant, Maine, and at the Cowtown Rodeo in Pilesgrove, New Jersey.

Click here for a complete circuit-by-circuit breakdown of the current ProRodeo circuit standings.