Winners Circle
“Third time,” Junior Nogueira said with a smile. The Reigning World Champions Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira showcased their talents over five head in the John Justin Arena on April 24, 2022, to win the Gold Buckle Beer Open title at the USTRC Cinch National Finals of Team Roping XXXIII, which is their third Open Championship title. They came into the short round at high team back and made the second fastest run in the round with a 6.76-second run, where Nogueira cracked out his iconic pullback, to win the roping with an aggerate time of 31.68 seconds on five head, worth $42,200. “It’s for the big ones, but I haven’t done it in so long,” Nogueira said of his signature move. “It’s unbelievable,” Driggers added. “Our last one I told him to check off a little bit. It had little horns. I was like, ‘Make sure and pull your slack down.’ It’s a blessing to get the win and awesome to get to rope with this guy. We’ve had a great winter so far and it’s all due to him. It’s a blessing to get the win.” Driggers and Nogueira knocked down their first two steers in 11.87 seconds. It was their third steer that was more difficult to get by, which they caught in 7.18 seconds. “I made him a little harder than he should have been,” Driggers, a nine-time Wrangler NFR qualifier, said. “He was sitting in the chute real gentle. We were 11 on two, and I was like, ‘do not break the barrier.’ I nodded and my horse was standing perfect. He started slow and then goes. By the time I realized he went I was late, late, I said go catch the steer and get to the next one. We drew pretty good on our fourth one which got us back in the middle of the roping pretty good.” Driggers headed on a quick-footed 7-year-old sorrel gelding named Oliver, whom he added to his string in the Summer of 2021. “He’s become my jackpot horse all winter,” Driggers said. “I rode him at (Rodeo) Houston and took him to California. He’s been fitting pretty good. I’m probably going to kick him out for a few months after May, after all of these jackpots, and let him grow up a little bit and bring him back up and maybe go to the Spicer Gripp, maybe not.” Nogueria rode Chu Papi, a 10-year-old black gelding he purchased from Driggers. “He’s a fast horse—an amazing jackpot horse,” Nogueira, an eight-time Wrangler NFR qualifier, said. “He’s a rodeo horse too, but he does well on the long setups.” What made the win more special for Driggers and Nogueira was having the support of their family in the stands watching live. “My dad and my mom are here,” Driggers said. “They’ve supported me my whole life and then for them to be here today and for us to get the win—they support us no matter if we win or lose, but at the same time it’s a little bit sweeter when we do win.” “I have my wife and my little girl Isabella and my little boy Jake. It’s probably the first time he’s gotten to watch us. I had some Brazilian friends here too. It’s cool to get the win, especially when you have your friends and family watching.” Driggers also finished fourth in the roping heading for Two-time World Champion heeler Paul Eaves with a time of 33.48 seconds on five head, worth $10,500. “Paul did a great job roping all day,” Driggers said. “We were back in there at fourth callback and had to be 7.7. This arena, pretty much if you make a good run, you’re going to be under 7.7. I was just going to try and make our run and for sure get us some money. If somebody made a mistake then we would win a little bit better, but if not $5,500 is a pretty good day.”
1. Kaleb Driggers & Junior Nogueira 31.68 seconds on five head, worth $42,200
2. Tyler Wade and Cory Petska 32.72 seconds on five head, worth $31,600
3. Bubba Buckaloo and Joseph Harrison, 33.41 seconds on five head, worth $21,100
TOTAL PAYOUT: $108,400
#16.5 SHOOTOUT
The 33rd Annual 2022 USTRC Cinch National Finals of Team Roping kicked off on Sunday, April 24th at the Will Rodgers Memorial Event Center in Fort Worth, TX with the #16.5 Shootout. With 132 teams entered the energy was intense for the short round held in the John Justin Arena with $92,000 to be paid. Is it possible that there was too much energy? Maybe it was a case of nerves as this short round kicked off the week long Finals. Of the
