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<\/a><\/p>\nPLAYING FOR MAJOR POINTS<\/p>\n
The Unleash The Beast tour arrives in Tallahassee with significantly more on the line than a typical weekend, as PBR Florida State is designated a PBR Major.<\/p>\n
While a standard UTB event offers a maximum of 167 points, riders can earn up to 237 points this weekend \u2014 a swing large enough to dramatically reshape the championship race.<\/p>\n
Following his third victory of the season last weekend in Little Rock, Sage Steele Kimzey extended his lead atop the standings to 83 points over John Crimber, creating the first meaningful separation in the 2026 title race.<\/p>\n
The championship picture, however, remains wide open:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Five different riders have held the No. 1 ranking through the first 12 events of the season.
\u2022 Nine different riders have won events in 2026.
\u2022 Only two riders have multiple victories: Kimzey (3) and Dalton Kasel (2).
\u2022 Just 311 points separate the Top 10, meaning one strong Major performance could vault a rider directly into title contention.<\/p>\n
Consistency has also defined the season thus far. Both Sage Steele Kimzey and Alex Cerqueira lead the tour with 19 qualified rides, with Kimzey posting the highest riding percentage among top-ranked riders at 19-for-28 (67.86%).<\/p>\n
With the largest regular-season point payout of the year available this weekend, Tallahassee could serve as a turning point in the race for the 2026 gold buckle.<\/p>\n
NOTABLE RIDERS TO WATCH<\/p>\n
Sage Steele Kimzey enters Tallahassee riding a wave of momentum after capturing his third event victory of the season last weekend in Little Rock. The seven-time PRCA World Champion rode two of three bulls during the event, delivering an 89.35-point ride aboard Elmo and a 91.55-point performance on Lights Out to lead the final two rounds. Having covered seven of his last 10 bulls, Kimzey continues to build steam as he pursues his first PBR World Championship.<\/p>\n
Sitting second in the standings, John Crimber remains firmly within striking distance. The young phenom finished third in Little Rock after riding Tchoupitoulas for 88.60 points in Round 2 and Mike\u2019s Motive for 87.75 points in the Championship Round. With only 83 points separating him from the top spot, Crimber remains one strong weekend away from reclaiming the No. 1 ranking.<\/p>\n
Brazilian standout Leandro Zampollo continues to emerge as one of the breakout contenders of the season. The 25-year-old has finished runner-up in three of the last four events, including Pittsburgh, Bridgeport and Little Rock. In Arkansas he delivered 88.35 points aboard Game Over and 89.50 points atop Nobody, further cementing his place among the tour\u2019s rising threats as he searches for his first UTB event win.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, reigning three-time PBR World Champion Jose Vitor Leme finds himself in unfamiliar territory. Currently ranked No. 33, Leme sits more than 500 points behind the leader and faces mounting pressure to assemble a run of qualified rides. With only six rides on the season, the Brazilian will need a strong stretch of performances if he hopes to defend his title and become the sport\u2019s first four-time world champion.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Cassio Dias, the 2024 PBR World Champion, continues to climb back toward contention. After earning points in Little Rock with an 87.50-point ride aboard Doc Majestic, Dias now sits inside the Top 10 and remains within reach of the championship battle.<\/p>\n
Veteran Luciano de Castro also enters Tallahassee approaching a significant milestone. With 247 career premier-series qualified rides, Castro could reach the 250-ride mark this weekend with a perfect performance.<\/p>\n
FRESH OFF THE CUTLINE<\/p>\n
Last weekend\u2019s event in Little Rock marked the fifth round of cuts for the 2026 Unleash The Beast season.<\/p>\n
Following earlier trims in New York (Jan. 9\u201311), Tampa (Jan. 23\u201324), Salt Lake City (Feb. 6\u20137) and Jacksonville (Feb. 20\u201321), riders ranked outside the Top 35 \u2014 excluding those with exemptions \u2014 were relegated to Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour competition.<\/p>\n
New invitees for PBR Florida State include Marcus Mast, who won last weekend\u2019s Velocity Tour stop in Reading.<\/p>\n
Additional riders receiving invitations through the Velocity Global standings include Macaulie Leather, Trace Redd, Wyatt Rogers, Andy Guzman and Elijah Jennings.<\/p>\n
Alternates for the weekend include Kase Hitt, Mauricio Moreira and Austin Richardson, each looking to capitalize on an opportunity against the rankest bulls in the world.<\/p>\n
REMATCH RECAP<\/p>\n
Round 1 in Tallahassee features several intriguing rematches between riders and bulls.<\/p>\n
Daniel Keeping will face Hot Sauce for the second time in just over a month after the pair combined for 85.40 points in Salt Lake City earlier this season.<\/p>\n
Manoelito de Souza Junior meets Red Rebellion again after their previous matchup ended in a 2.74-second buckoff during the Bridgeport event.<\/p>\n
Marco Rizzo and Pneu-Dart\u2019s Chief Wahoo\u00a0renew a rivalry that now spans four meetings since 2023, with each previous matchup ending in a buckoff.<\/p>\n
Finally, Thiago Salgado will meet Tchoupitoulas for their second official meeting after previous encounters resulted in both a buckoff and a re-ride opportunity.<\/p>\n
With the biggest regular-season points haul of the year available, a new stadium debut and the championship race beginning to separate, PBR Florida State promises a high-stakes showdown as the Unleash The Beast tour storms into Tallahassee.<\/p>\n
Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PBR Florida State: The 2026 PBR Unleash The Beast season charges into Tallahassee, Florida, for the 13th premier…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191123,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[77773,65628,77208,63217,63220,65139,89234,65632,78269,89233,89235,63949,63953,77768,65137,65148,65136,89229,89230,77772,89228,89227,89232,3990,89236,89237,63218,232,234,233,89231,65132,89226,63214,65630],"class_list":["post-191122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-alex-cerqueira","tag-andy-guzman","tag-austin-richardson","tag-cassio-dias","tag-dalton-kasel","tag-daniel-keeping","tag-doc-majestic","tag-elijah-jennings","tag-elmo","tag-game-over","tag-hot-sauce","tag-john-crimber","tag-jose-vitor-leme","tag-kase-hitt","tag-leandro-zampollo","tag-lights-out","tag-luciano-de-castro","tag-macaulie-leather","tag-manoelito-de-souza-jr","tag-marco-rizzo","tag-marcus-mast","tag-mauricio-gulla-moreira","tag-mikes-motive","tag-nobody","tag-pneu-darts-chief-wahoo","tag-red-rebellion","tag-sage-steele-kimzey","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news","tag-tchoupitoulas","tag-thiago-salgado","tag-trace-redd","tag-unleash-the-beast","tag-wyatt-rogers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}