After six rounds of NFR team roping, Tyler Wade and Wesley Thorp lead the world standings, and Dustin Egusquiza and Levi Lord are the closest team to the reigning world champions for the 2024 PRCA team roping world title.

With four rounds left, the most a team could win if they won every round and the average race is $221,140.03 per man. There’s only one team that has caught all six steers, but would the average be enough?

(Editor’s note: These are hypotheticals discussing mathematical possibilities.)

Average: Clay Smith and Coleby Payne only ones alive on 6

Entering the seventh round, Clay Smith and Coleby Payne are the only team to have every steer caught. Smith and Payne are currently No. 1 in the aggregate with a 48.8 on six head. So far, Smith and Payne have had two runs with legs and one with a barrier. If they can hold their position and win the average, they’d each pocket $86,391.31. While that $86,391.31 is a pretty penny, Smith and Payne need these last four rounds and need to be successful. Smith is currently $192,213.05 behind Wade, and Payne is $183,099.00 behind Thorp. In other words, if the NFR ended after Round 6 last night, that $86,391.31 aggregate check wouldn’t be enough for them to catch Wade and Thorp. In terms of the rounds and average, $192,213.05 breaks down to the aggregate win, three round wins and one sixth-place finish in another round.

NFR team roping average race

As of Dec. 11, 2024.

World standings breakdown

The reigning world champs still lead the pack, and after Round 6, they do so by a hefty margin. Wade and Thorp have accumulated $134,425.23 a man at the 2024 NFR, that’s just $18,705.77 behind their 2023 NFR earnings and highest NFR earnings of $153,131. While Wade and Thorp aren’t in the average race, even if the NFR had ended after Round 6, they would still end the season as the world champions. However, as mentioned previously, a team could win up to $$221,140.03 a man if they were to win the last four rounds and the average title. With no team trailing Wade and Thorp by that much, any team still technically could dethrone them, but they’d have to bank on Wade and Thorp not winning a single dime the remainder of the week.

Season-leaders Egusquiza and Lord trail Wade and Thorp by $61,364.27 a man, which equates to two round wins, or a round win, a second-place finish and a sixth-place finish. Egusquiza and Lord are currently out of the aggregate race, as are all of the top three teams. The average pays eight places, and Egusquiza and Lord could grab last hole if they catch every steer from here on out and the eighth-place team misses from here on out. Egusquiza and Lord have three steers caught, whereas eighth has five. If they can squeak into the aggregate race for last hole, that would pay $8,150.12 per man.

While Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira are $79,849.67 behind Wade and Thorp, their odds of catching them may be just as good, if not better, than Egusquiza and Lord’s. The 2021 and 2022 world champions have the same amount of steers caught as Wade and Thorp and are higher in the average race than Egusquiza and Lord, giving them a slight edge. Wade and Thorp are one hole out of the average money, and they currently top Driggers and Nogueira on four steers by six seconds. If Driggers and Nogueira can continue catching and pass Wade and Thorp in the average, they have better odds of surpassing them. Currently, Driggers and Nogueira need two round wins and a fourth-place finish to catch up to Wade and Thorp.

PRCA team roping world standings

As of Dec. 11, 2024.

PRCA team roping world standings with separation amount

These are the world standings as of Dec. 11, with the amount of money separating Wade and Thorp from the rest of the field.