For the second straight weekend, I’m working from the cool confines of my home in northwest Missouri, but my mind’s 1,000 miles away in west Texas.

The West of the Pecos Rodeo is where hundreds of cowboys and cowgirls kicked off their 2012 Cowboy Christmas. Tonight will feature the final performance in Pecos, and some of the elite roughstock hands in the game have a great opportunity to make some good money and, quite possibly, win the rodeo.

NFR qualifier Bradley Harter has drawn Carr Pro Rodeo’s Choir Girl, the horse Wade Sundell rode for 86 points on Thursday night to lead saddle bronc riding. Cody Martin has Carr’s Miss Congeniality, the animal that led Cody Angland to the win and Alex Wright to the runner-up finish in Lovington, N.M., last August.

Chris Roundy posted an 87-point ride on Carr’s P Diddy, but a trio of NFR qualifiers – Bobby Welsh on Carr’s Comanche, Shawn Hogg on Carr’s Black Ice and Dustin Elliott on Carr’s Sports Book – have a shot at taking the title.

Pete Carr, the owner of the livestock company, predicted Steven Dent and MGM Deuces Night would match up for the Pecos bareback riding title, but Clint Cannon has already posted a 90 – Cannon did so during Wednesday’s opening performance on Dirty Jacket. Another piece of the puzzle that will likely play a factor into how the Dent-MGM Deuces Night ride is scored is that Dent and his traveling partner, Ryan Gray, arrived at the Midland (Texas) International Airport today, but their gear bags didn’t.

Gray, who has Carr’s Miss Hollywood, posted that little tidbit on his Facebook page this afternoon. Hopefully he’ll find someone to get some gear from his Lubbock home to Pecos. Either way, I suspect there will be plenty for the fans to see tonight.