Las Vegas jackpot makes bull rider’s year
If the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association could've picked the person to win the largest National Finals Rodeo round-money check ever written, Clayton Foltyn wouldn't have been a bad choice.
The bull rider from Winnie, Texas, has had a painful year, losing his grandfather — Dickey Cox, a four-time NFR qualifier who was honored Sunday during the NFR's annual Memorial Night at the Thomas & Mack Center — and a close friend, former PRCA steer wrestler Taylor Roach, in a span of four months.
After rallying late in the year to qualify for the NFR for the first time since 2011, Foltyn on Friday was the only bull rider to complete his eight-second ride and thus collected $84,615, the total payout for the round.
"I knew it was a really tough pen of bulls but I didn't expect that I'd be the only one," said Foltyn, at 30 the oldest bull rider in the field.
Foltyn, who rode Rafter G Rodeo's Thunderstruck for 76.5 points, made more money in eight seconds in Las Vegas than he had competing in 60-plus rodeos this year, entering his third NFR in 11th place with $65,227.
"It's gonna sure enough help out Christmas," Foltyn said of his jackpot. "It was awesome."
Foltyn tied for third in the fourth round Sunday with a 82-point ride on Corey & Lange Rodeo's Big Cool.
Before the NFR began, 2012 world champion bull rider Cody Teel, who was Foltyn's traveling partner late this year, called him the luckiest person he knows.
"This summer while he didn't have his driver's license we were going through a checkpoint and they were stopping every car and Clayton was driving. By some miracle they waved the car through and then started stopping them after us," Teel said. "So Clayton may be the luckiest person I know, and the smartest, because since he didn't have a license he didn't have to rent a car all summer."
Foltyn's cousin, bull rider Reid Barker, could have used some of his good fortune Saturday. After completing his 74-point ride on Pete Carr's Classic Pro Rodeo's Lonestar that was good for third in the round and $15,654, Barker was stomped in the back by the bull, taken out of the arena on a stretcher and transported by ambulance to UMC Hospital.
The 23-year-old from Comfort, Texas, will miss the rest of the NFR because of a fractured left shoulder blade and a fractured rib.
"I was really scared it was a whole lot worse, but there's nothing wrong with his organs or his brain," Foltyn said.
Foltyn wore one of his grandfather's shirts Sunday to honor him. A reserve world champion in 1963, Cox died March 20, the day before Foltyn's 30th birthday.
"It's just sad, but he lived such a great life and was such a great guy, we tried to celebrate his life rather than mourn," Foltyn said. "He meant everything to me. He was my 'Poppy'."
In July, Foltyn was a pallbearer at the funeral for Roach, who was killed in a car accident at age 28.
"He was married to my wife's best friend," Foltyn said. "It was pretty tough on a lot of us guys."
After a slow start this year, Foltyn won the Reno Xtreme Bulls title in July and began traveling with Teel in August, a move he said was key to his success.
"He kind of babysitted me from there on," Foltyn said. "I really didn't rodeo as hard as I did in the past. I did good at some big rodeos and it just happened just right this year. It feels great being back here."
NOTES — Steer wrestler Dakota Eldridge, an Elko native, won the fourth round with a run of 3.3 seconds to take home $26,231 and climb from 10th to fifth in the standings with $112,669, about $39,000 behind leader Ty Erickson. ... Bareback rider Steven Peebles won a share of his third straight round, tying Kaycee Feild with 84 points apiece — Peebles on Pickett Pro Rodeo's Scarlet Belle and Feild on J Bar J's Pass The Hat. Peebles, who leads the NFR with $95,356 in winnings, trails Feild by $6,330. ... Derrick Begay and Clay O'Brien Cooper won team roping with a 3.6-second run, the fastest of the NFR so far.
— Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow him: @tdewey33
