No. 1 | $198,498

In 2012, he paired with NFR heeler Jade Corkill. As a team, they landed just shy of a world championship, finishing second in the world. That season they won the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo Days, the Snake River Stampede and the Kitsap Stampede. The following year, he and Travis Graves won Round 9 and placed in three others.

The 2016 season kicked off the Driggers-and-Junior Nogueira dynasty that remains strong today.

From 2016 to 2019, the pair won four go-rounds and placed in 26. Their list of rodeo accolades from those years includes Spanish Fork, Utah; Oakley, Utah; Pleasant Grove, Utah; Filer, Idaho; Nampa, Idaho; Estes Park, Colorado; Pecos, Texas; and Logan, Utah.

After missing the 2020 NFR in Arlington, Driggers returned to start what would become back-to-back PRCA world championships.

“Last October, coming fresh off of not making the Finals, I didn’t feel like I was being the best me I could be,” Driggers said. “That’s where I’m like, I can have fun and party and all that stuff when I’m 50 years old and retired. And I just felt like I have been in my prime for five years, but sometime Father Time is going to catch up to me. You can’t rope forever. And this has really been my dream and my goal. Coming up so close, it’s all been —you know—tumble weeding. I don’t have to have it. I don’t need it. That’s one of my goals. I was going to set it down. It’s been awesome. I feel great every day. I get out there and work hard every day. Ride my colts, my horses, and don’t really have anything bad to say about it. It’s not like I was out of control. There are definitely people out there who definitely party and drink and do everything 10 times more than I did, even. But it felt like it was just a small part in there. One day, Walt Woodard said to me that he’d never heard a successful guy say, ‘Man, I feel like my career really took off after I started drinking.’ And that really hit home for me. It’s just one of the things in the journey that I stay consistent with.”

At the 2021 NFR, he and Nogueira won Round 4 and placed in six others to solidify his title as world champion header. During the regular season they grabbed wins in Mandan, North Dakota; St. Paul, Oregon; and, for Driggers, the Texas Circuit Finals with Lane Mitchell.

“I think I’ve won second four times, and come in No. 1 a lot,” Driggers said in 2021. “Heck, one year, we came in No. 1 and won $150,000 and won more than we won this year and still won second. We’ve always had a really good Finals. It’s all part of God’s time. We’re blessed and thankful to be here.”

A milestone that also happened during 2021 was the crossing of the $2 million mark.

“It’s a milestone that a guy would like to pass,” Driggers, 32, said. “I’d like to pass $3 million, honestly. Once you accomplish one thing, you want to hit the next million. It’s not something I monitored really close, but with the Finals paying so good you can get past it a lot quicker than the guys who rodeoed before 2015. A lot of the guys before me had to do it the hard way.”

The 2022 season brought a different year but the same winning story. During the regular season the team won Prescott, Arizona; Oakley; St. Paul; and Walla Walla, Washington. Once in Las Vegas, they placed in four rounds and walked away from the Thomas & Mack Center with $112,830 won, all while breaking the single-season earnings record with $340,708.

“When we got started, we were kind of making our run,” Driggers said after his second world title. “I knew that this week, a lot of times when I come in, I’m going for blood — first place. But maybe I’m getting older.”

For the next two years, Driggers continued to make the Finals and won $171,636 there. With two round wins and eight placings, the now-$3 million man added victories in Reno, Nevada; Hermiston, Oregon; Ellensburg, Washington; and the NFR Open in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“That is a special rodeo,” Driggers said of the Reno Rodeo. “It kind of kick-starts the summer. The crowd is always huge and fun, the payoff is great and it is a three-header. We don’t have a lot of those anymore and I really enjoy them.”

But then there was 2025 — a year that has seen Driggers win more than $885,000 and counting and secure a spot at his 13th NFR. Between the Bob Feist Invitational, the COJO Open, The American Rodeo, a $198,498 ProRodeo regular-season total, and his futurity and Global Handicaps earnings, Driggers is having a life-changing year even as a two-time world champion.

“I don’t know, I just want to win the world,” Driggers said after hearing the total after the COJO Open win. “I never imagined this would happen. We had such humble beginnings. But I told my wife yesterday I had to go get my truck and trailer. I’m ready for Las Vegas. We might get two buckles out there, but we’ll for sure get one. You have to speak positive. I’m tired of sending my buckles to Terrell.”

Driggers is the No. 1 man in the world heading to Las Vegas.

More with Kaleb Driggers

• Driggers Hits $2 Million in Career Earnings with Gold-Buckle Win
• Kaleb Driggers’ $885K Year (and Counting)
• Kaleb Driggers Falls Short of Qualifying for 2009 Wrangler NFR