By Kacie Albert
At the seventh PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada Cup Series, presented by Wrangler, event of the year in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Dakota Buttar rode a cut above the rest, going a perfect 3-for-3 to win the PBR Peace Country Invitational inside Bonnetts Energy Centre and vault to the No. 1 position in the 2023 PBR Canada Championship race.
Buttar first put points on the board in Round 1 when he delivered the third-best score, marked 84 points aboard War Boy (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle/Legend Rodeo Stock).
In the second round, the 2020 PBR Canada Champion then elected to go head-to-head with Hanna Motors Broken Halo (Skori Bucking Bulls). Remaining in perfect time with the powerful animal athlete, Buttar reached the whistle, awarded 87 points to punch his ticket to the championship round third on the overall event leaderboard.
With an early pick in the championship round bull draft, Buttar architected a showdown with Chico (Vold Rodeo). Bursting from the chutes, Buttar remained centered atop the swift bovine, however, was initially called for a buckoff in arena. PBR’s officials, however, quickly sent the out into review. Upon inspection, Buttar was deemed to have made the 8, awarded an event-best 89.5 points to clinch the victory.
Buttar, who also finished second in the accompanying 5/5 Bucking Battle compliments of an 85.5-point score on Desperado (Vold Rodeo), netted a combined 158 national points. The Saskatchewan man surged from No. 3 to No. 1 in the nation, now 10.84 points ahead of No. 2 Cody Coverchuk (Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan).
Should Buttar remain No. 1 in the nation and be crowned the 2023 PBR Canada Championship, earning the historic $100,000 bonus, he would become just the fourth multi-time Champion in history, joining two-time winners Coverchuk and Zane Lambert (Ponoka, Alberta), and three-time winner Aaron Roy (Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan).
Tue, May 14, 7:00 PM
