ARLINGTON, Texas – As he reflected on the last 10 days, Mason Clements wasn’t too thrilled with how his third National Finals Rodeo appearance went.
Still, he quietly found success. He placed in five rounds and finished fifth in the average race by scoring 810.5 cumulative points on 10 rides; that was worth nearly $23,000, and he pocketed $66,269 at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
“It will work, and, honestly, it’s the best I’ve done at the finals,” he said, referring to his five placings and not suffering a no-score through the week. “I stayed on all 10 horses. I don’t know about riding them. There are a lot of things I am going to go back to the drawing board and fix. I want to make sure I don’t have those errors and mistakes in the season and going into next year’s NFR.”
Clements struggled with his rigging through eight rounds, then switched to a new piece of equipment for the final two nights of the season. That made a great deal of difference for him, especially in regards to his confidence.
“Every one of these other guys brought it, and it was anybody’s game,” he said of the other bareback riders in the field. “You just had to mark them out, keep your chin tucked and keep spurring; just do your job, be a bareback rider, be tough. There is no doubt that 14 other guys in that locker room are all of that.
“I was really happy with how the horses performed. They did their jobs, and we did ours. Everything else is out of our control.”
Clements finished 10th in the world standings with $124,771 earned through the COVID-affected 2020 campaign. That’s saying something, especially considering that fewer than half the events took place than in a typical rodeo season.
“There were a lot of positives that happened,” Clements said. “It is still just a learning experience, and I’m happy.
“How many times can you say you’ve been to Texas for the NFR in a baseball stadium? In a year like this, I’m so grateful for what the PRCA has put together to make this happen.”