How in the world do NFR back numbers work? There are questions every year from cowboys and fans alike who are curious about how the red-and-white back numbers are decided. Oh, and how the ties are broken when two guys on the same team have equal earnings, too.
It’s pretty simple, really. The NFR back numbers are based on each Top 15 contestant’s total regular-season earnings, the twist being that for back number purposes that also includes unofficial earnings.
Team ropers can count 80 rodeos as official toward the world standings, and declare the verdict on that every time they enter a rodeo. But if they also have earnings from rodeos they’ve unofficialed beyond the 80, that money does count toward the NFR back numbers.
Let’s use fourth-ranked header Clint Summers having back number 51, and fifth-ranked header Dustin Egusquiza having back number 38 at this year’s NFR as an example. While Summers’ $161,242 in the world standings is more than Egusquiza’s $160,703, Dustin won a total of $171,732 including money won at rodeos he counted as unofficial.
In the case of two team ropers with identical earnings, such as regular-season leaders Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira with $198,498 a man, Driggers will wear back number 19 and Nogueira back number 20, because Driggers has been a PRCA member longer. Kaleb was the 2009 Resistol Rookie Header of the Year, and Junior was the 2014 Resistol Rookie Heeler of the Year.
The 2025 PRCA NFR Contestant Welcome Reception & Back Number Ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, December 2 at the South Point in Las Vegas. In celebration of this year marking 40 years in Vegas, the first batch of Vegas-crowned world champs from 1985 will be handing out the NFR back numbers to this year’s qualifiers.
In team roping terms, that means our very own living legends Jake Barnes and Clay Cooper, who won their first of seven gold buckles at that first Finals in Cowboy Town, will take center stage to shake the hands of this year’s Top 15.
