Dustin Egusquiza and Jake Long went an insane 11.66 on three runs to clinch the 2024 Lone Star Shootout victory for $76,000 at the notoriously tough Texas gunslinging jackpot’s new home in Abilene.
The setup featured a 16-foot box with a barrier a foot and a half under and cattle custom chosen to encourage fast times from start to finish. This couldn’t have been a better match for either of the players.
“Dustin’s phenomenial,” Long said. “He’s good in any setup, but he’s especially good in this one. I think these (ropings) are made for him…I guess we’re both a little aggressive, so it’s really good when it comes together.”
Egusquiza’s proven he can be deadly at the Lone Star Shootout in the past—he won it in 2021 with Travis Graves. When he cracked out ahead of Long with a 3.92 in Round 1 and won the $1,500 Round fast time, it wasn’t on accident.
“Brad Culpepper told me a long time ago,” Eguzquiza said. “Before I ever went to my first George Strait, that if you can win the first round of the top 50 when you make it back, it makes it a lot easier. And that’s been my philosophy ever since. I won the Strait in 2016, won in the first round, then in 2021, when I won the Lone Star Shootout, I won the first round with T.G..”
The next time they nodded, Egusquiza and Long came back to win second in Round 2 with a time of 4.04 seconds for $1,000. Their 7.96 on two brought them as high callback team to the short round.
Then, the duo put an exclamation point on the exciting day of roping with a 3.70-second run, the fastest of the day, earning another $1,500 for the fast time and clinching the aggregate title.
Just 24 hours after celebrating the $76,000 aggregate victory and grand total of $80,000 on the day, new trailers, saddle and lineup of additional prizes, Egusquiza and Long will be back in the same arena once again. However, at the Rodeo Austin finals, they’re coming back in the first and second high callback positions with their respective ProRodeo partners—that’s Clint Summers for Long, and Levi Lord for Egusquiza.
The 2024 installment of the Lone Star Shootout didn’t just change venues from Stephenville to Abilene, it included a payout on an #18.5 incentive within the roping that paid out an extra $6,000 to Cash Palmore and Clay Green, who also snagged a sixth-place finish in the Open for a grand total of $21,000 for the team. According to producer Austin Robertson, of Robertson Hill Ranch Productions, the 2024 event, which started with 284 teams was the third-largest in Lone Star Shootout’s history.
Stay tuned for the full story, plus an analysis of Kaleb Driggers’ outstanding performance at the 2024 Lone Star Shootout, where he qualified four runs to the finals and notched three finishes inside the top four placings.
Lone Star Shootout Results 2024
| 1 | Dustin Egusquiza/ Jake Long | 11.66 | $76,000 |
| 2 | Kaleb Driggers/ Wesley Thorp | 13.06 | $45,000 |
| 3 | Kaleb Driggers/Jade Corkill | 13.82 | $30,000 |
| 4 | Kaleb Driggers/Nicky Northcott | 14.45 | $23,000 |
| 5 | Jake Smith/Jessen James | 14.78 | $18,000 |
| 6 | Cash Palmore/Clay Green | 14.93 | $15,000 |
| 7 | Denton Parish/Jace Helton | 17.64 | $11,000 |
| 8 | Clay Smith/Junior Nogueira | 18.23 | $7,000 |
| Incentive | |||
| 1 | Cash Palmore/Clay Green | 14.93 | $6,000 |
| 2 | Denton Parish/Jace Helton | 17.64 | $4,000 |
| 3 | Lane Goebel/Chad Mathes | 21.11 | $2,000 |
| Short Go | |||
| 1 | Dustin Egusquiza/ Jake Long | 3.70 | $1,500 |
| 2 | Kaleb Driggers/Wesley Thorp | 4.11 | $1,000 |
| Round 1 | |||
| 1 | Dustin Egusquiza/Jake Long | 3.92 | $1,500 |
| 2 | Cody Snow/Lil Michael Calmelat | 4.04 | $1,000 |
| Round 2 | |||
| 1 | JC Yeahquo/ Logan Moore | 3.96 | $1,500 |
| 2 | Dustin Egusquiza/ Jake Long | 4.04 | $1,000 |
