Minors Do It Again in Round 4

Riley and Brady Minor stop the clock in 4.4 seconds to win go-round number 4 at the 2016 WNFR.

Photos by Kirt Steinke

Riley and Brady Minor added $26,230.77 to each of their bank accounts with a win in go-round number four of the 2016 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, their second win in as many nights.

As they say in this business, the round fell apart, with Dustin Bird’s and Russell Cardoza’s 9.30 winning fifth and Colby Lovell’s and Travis Graves’ and Levi Simpson’s and Jeremy Buhler’s 9.4 splitting sixth. Bird’s 9.30, worth $6,769.23, would keep Bird first in the all-around race in a night that saw heeler Junior Nogueira and bull dogger Clayton Hass take no-times.

“We were the third team out, and we saw Petska make a good run,” Brady said. “They were 4.7, so we just wanted to make a good run. This was the second run through the first set. We didn’t stick around to watch after we roped, but when we heard all of the legs, we came back down the tunnel to watch the last few.”

“These steers are bigger than anything we’ve roped all year,” Riley added, explaining some of the challenges contributing to all of the plus fives. “They’re stronger and fresher and way bigger, and they’re harder on the heelers.”

Luke Brown and Jake Long stayed first in the average with a 4.9-second run to move them to 18.70 on four. Levi Simpson and Jeremy Buhler are 27.70 on four head to be second, and Erich Rogers and Cory Petska are third with a 29.00 on four. The Minors took a no-time in the second round, but their 13.80 on three has them fourth in the average on the week. Kaleb Driggers figure-eighted the horns to give he and Nogueira their first no-time despite spending 30 seconds trying to fish, but that only dropped them to fifth in the average.