No. 1 | $198,497.72
- Age: 35
- Hometown: Presidente Prudente, SP
- World Titles: 3 (AA, 2016) (TR, 2021-22)
- Career earnings: $2,847,432
- NFR Qualifications: 12 (2014-2025)
- Major ropings: BFI; HorkDog; Cody NesSmith Memorial Open; Cinch USTRC NFTR US Open; Windy Ryon
- Major rodeos: The American Rodeo; The Governor’s Cup; Deadwood Days Of ’76 Rodeo (South Dakota); NFR Open; Reno Rodeo; Ellensburg Rodeo; Fort Worth (Texas) Stock Show & Rodeo; World’s Oldest Rodeo (Prescott, Ariz.); Rancho Mission Viejo Rodeo (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.); St. Paul Rodeo; Clovis (Calif.) Rodeo, the Snake River Stampede (Nampa, Idaho).
- Star Horsepower: Green Card (Peppers Homespun Kid); Timon (Kiehne’s Frosty Pepto); Hali (Apache R Hali)
- Rope Choice: Classic Powerline Lite HM
Junior Nogueira not only wowed team roping fans when he first came to the United States, he also changed the heeling game.
Nogueira exploded onto the ProRodeo scene in 2014 at The American with Jake Barnes, pulling off shots no one had ever seen. Since then, he’s set records, won every jackpot out there and picked up three gold buckles.
“I started roping with my daddy when I was 4,” Nogueira told Spin To Win’s (now The Team Roping Journal) Kendra Santos in 2014. “He would rope a steer, dally and stop him. Then a guy would put me and my pony into position. I missed the very first steer. But I put a trap down there and roped the second steer by two feet. I remember that it was a yellow steer with big horns.”
When Nogueira came to the U.S., Barnes had no intentions of rodeoing again. As people continually insisted he meet the Brazilian phenom, Barnes was skeptical at first. But after watching Nogueira heel every steer he spun–no matter how hard or wild he handled them–he decided he wanted to help him fulfill his roping dreams. With little money and even less English, it wasn’t easy right off the bat, but they decided to go for it.
“Sometimes I walk in the box, look over and see Jake, and I can’t believe it,” Nogueira said in 2014. “I think I’m dreaming. My idol is over there, and I’m roping with him. It’s so great that I sometimes think I’m sleeping and that I’ll wake up. Jake tells me it’s reality, but it’s still unbelievable.”
Just two months later, Nogueira heeled behind Colby Lovell at his first major American jackpot, none other than the Wildfire Open to the World. He won fourth place for $7,500 to change the course of team roping history.
“I was broke,” Nogueira said. “I had a few dollars and a few pennies to my name. I didn’t speak very good English, and Jake had bought that horse for me.”
That year, Nogueira won the Resistol Rookie of the Year title and qualified for his first NFR, making him the first Brazilian team roper to qualify. He finished second in the average with Barnes to jump from 12th to seventh in the world standings.
Two years later, Nogueira became the first Brazilian world champion in PRCA history, winning the all-around world title with $231,728. He also finished second in the team roping that year, a trend he’d see three more times before 2021.
Nogueira partnered with Kaleb Driggers, and the pair quickly became one of the most electric teams in the sport. In 2017, they tied the 3.3-second world record—a run as wild as it was historic.
“I was happy and starting to celebrate, and next thing I know I’m looking up at the roof of the Thomas & Mack,” Nogueira said of the moment he fell off inside the Thomas & Mack. “I was embarrassed, but I was so happy. I had watched Chad and Jade be 3.3 over and over before I even came to America. So I made the best run of my life, then I fell off. But at least I landed on my feet. I just laughed about it.”
In 2020, Nogueira added the AQHA World Championship in the Senior Heading and Reserve World Championship in the Senior Heeling to his name. This was Nogueira’s first-ever AQHA World Show, but it was also something he’s been preparing for all of his life, beginning at home in Presidente Prudente, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
“I come from good horsemen,” Nogueira said. “I lived at Robbie Schroeder. I showed a lot in Brazil. When I’m roping for myself and going to the rodeos I get over the horse and do this and that going for time. I’m not saying I’m the best guy at the show, but I do know how to do it. My uncle, my dad, they are great horsemen and great trainers. I’ve shown a bunch in Brazil, and I always dreamed of this.”
@teamropingjournal @Kaleb Driggers Official reminded us that this 3.3-second arena record breaking run from @lasvegasnfr 2017 existed today, so we’re just here to share all the good vibes for a @CSISaddlepads throwback with @Junior Nogueira- Official ♬ som original – Relíquias Sounds
After going separate ways in 2020, Driggers and Nogueira partnered back up on the ProRodeo road in 2021. Together they won their first team roping world titles, finishing third in the average to win $263,226.67 and $277,611.77 on the year, respectively. They earned $143,896.27 each over 10 rounds.
“We love to rope no matter what,” Nogueira said. “We go home and we rope the lead steer because we love to rope. I think I’m tired, so I go sit on my horse and rope the lead steer. It’s been a long journey. For sure on this whole week, Kaleb did a good job. And we just stayed hooked and it happened for a reason. We’re so thankful—people in Brazil are freaking out. It’s like the World Cup and I’m the Brazilian team. That’s what I pray before I came over here. Honestly, we know we’re good friends and I’m not better than anybody else. I pray and say, ‘God, I know for a reason we didn’t win yet. Please, if you just let me win this time, for sure, whatever you can use us to glorify your name, or just to motivate somebody to use this title in the whole history of not giving up, but have faith in you, help us go through this time. Just help me catch this steer and finish strong the way we plan it. And we damn sure did it.’”
But nothing could prepare them for their 2022 season. Driggers and Nogueira broke every regular season record possible in the team roping, having bested the single-season earnings record by the end of July with just 39 rodeos officialed, after starting the season winning Fort Worth and picking up $24,760 there. They put together the richest team roping Fourth of July in ProRodeo history, winning $35,152 each over Cowboy Christmas. They also
“It’s pretty cool to break the record,” Nogueira said. “After I achieve something I’m happy, but I am already thinking about accomplishing something else. But I want to be so grateful because this means a lot. Even though we are always wanting to do better and be better, I like to focus on being appreciative of the blessings we’ve had this year.”
That also marked the year Nogueira crossed the $2-million mark in ProRodeo earnings.
“It’s a blessing for sure,” Nogueira said. “It’s been an amazing year, with a lot of records and a lot of achievements. But to see how many things God can put in my way, and make my dream come true. Now I have a family, and kids and horses, and I’m living my dream. To be able to take care of my family, to rodeo, it’s been amazing what this country has done to me. I’m very thankful for being here, for following my dreams, and thankful for America and ProRodeo also.”
That December he won his second-straight team roping gold buckle, third overall, earning a team roping season-earnings record $340,708.
In 2024, Driggers and Nogueira had an unusual start to the season with Nogueira missing a good portion of the winter rodeos, like Denver and Fort Worth, due to sinus surgery. Nogueira returned at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, and they made their way to ninth and 12th in the world prior to the start of Cowboy Christmas. They bested their own record, smashing the Cowboy Christmas record they set in 2022 by raking in $47,275 a man.
“Cowboy Christmas is the week you get to go to a lot of rodeos and for lots and lots of money,” Nogueira said. “I think for sure it’s very important to do good, and that week can help you kind of get a good clutch and jump up in the standings and get close to make the NFR.”
Their 2025 season has also seen its share of highs and lows. After a winter with no jackpot wins together, Driggers and Nogueira won their second consecutive BFI title in March for $154,000. They recorded the second-fastest BFI aggregate time in history along the way.
Just weeks later they took home yet another American Rodeo title for another $100,000 each—making it the legacy team’s richest month to date since they began roping in 2016.
But then came the summer, and they didn’t know for sure if they’d be rodeoing together. While practicing in May at Driggers’ place, Nogueira’s horse stumbled and went down, landing on top of his right leg and pinning him under the horse. The fall fractured Nogueira’s right tibia and damaged the ligaments around his knee.
“I tried to get up and walk,” Nogueira remembered. “I was going to get on and rope, but I called my cousin, who’s an orthopedist in Brazil. He talked me out of roping again that day, which is good, because I could have made it a lot worse and needed surgery.”
Despite two months off, Nogueira’s return went about as imagined, winning $14,041 a man in his official return to the 2025 ProRodeo road. They closed out the regular season in impressive fashion winning the Governor’s Cup the last weekend of the regular season to push them into the 2025 NFR No. 1 in the world standings.
I try to be the light instead of the dark. I like people, and I like to talk to them. I’m not trying to be anybody that I’m not—that’s the way I am. The only way I find peace is to do good things for people. Simple little things, like helping someone or saying good morning to a stranger.
Junior Nogueira, 2019
More with Junior Nogueira
- One on One with Junior Nogueira
- One of Many: Junior Nogueira’s 2014 HorkDog Buckle
- Kaleb Driggers, Junior Nogueira Win Regular Season and Governor’s Cup in 2025 Season Comeback
- Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira Triumph with $14K Weekend Despite Injury
- $354K in Two Weeks Turns Around Driggers & Nogueira’s ‘Slow Winter’ with 2025 American Rodeo Win
- Driggers & Nogueira Breathe Rare Air as Back-to-Back Champs of the BFI, Worth $154K in 2025
- Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira Shatter Cowboy Christmas Team Roping Record with $47K in 2024
- Junior Nogueira’s Big Break: The 2014 Wildfire Open to the World
- My Last NFR Was Junior Nogueira’s First
- The Jake Barnes and Junior Nogueira Story
- Nogueira Tops $2 Million in ProRodeo Earnings
- A League of Their Own: Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira Break Regular Season Earnings Record in 39 Rodeos
