In front of a record-setting crowd Saturday night in Tulsa, North Carolinian Eli Vastbinder wins his career-first Professional Bull Riders Express Ranches Classic.
The event set both a single-day and weekend attendance record for an Unleash The Beast tour stop in Tulsa. On Saturday evening, more than 9,400 fans packed BOK Center, while more than 15,200 attended throughout the entire weekend. Vastbinder first put points on the board in Round 1, delivering the eighth-best score when he covered Lapua for 85.25 points. The Captain of the Oklahoma Freedom in the PBR Team Series, which goes back into action in July, then surged to second on the event leaderboard when he topped bull Mighty Mike for 87.75 points in the second round. With the second selection in the championship round bull draft, Vastbinder elected to go head-to-head with the bull Tulsa Time. Vastbinder matched the powerful animal athlete jump-for-jump en route to a monstrous 90.5 points. The 90-point ride was the seventh of Vastbinder’s career in premier level PBR competition and first since April 2022. Vastbinder’s mammoth score, coupled with the final rider of the night bucking off, clinched his career-first Unleash The Beast victory.
The golden finish brought him a much-needed 126 Unleash The Beast points along with $42,321. Vastbinder catapulted 15 positions in the race for the 2023 PBR World Championship, climbing from No. 31 to No. 16. The PBR Unleash The Beast next travels to Eugene, Oregon on February 17th and 18th.
