DODGE CITY, Kan. – Team ropers Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira have had a lot of success competing together over the years.

They won world championships in 2021 and 2022 and are the No. 1 tandem in the world standings this week with about $130,000 in earnings each. They’ve also had a lot of success at the Dodge City Roundup Rodeo, an event they won together in 2019.

While winning another Roundup buckle would be nice, they will take what they can get. Driggers and Nogueira stopped the clock in 5.1 seconds during Friday’s third performance to take the second-round lead. They are ninth in the aggregate with one night remaining in the preliminary rounds, so they are on the bubble to return to Championship Sunday.

“We’re always looking at everywhere we compete at, we want to win first,” said Nogueira, the 2016 all-around world champion and the first Brazilian team roper to ever qualify for the National Finals Rodeo. “We’d like to win it again, but we didn’t have a great run (Friday) morning. If we come back here and make another good run, we have a chance.”

Anytime the two are roping together, they have a chance. They have excelled in ProRodeo since they first teamed eight years ago. Driggers is 34 of Hoboken, Georgia, and he’s been to the National Finals Rodeo 11 times since 2011. Nogueira is 33 from Presidente Prudente, São Paulo, Brazil, and he’s qualified for the last 10 NFRs, most of them with Driggers leading the way.

They’ve remained consistent over time, but there have been changes in rodeo since they first competed at ProRodeo’s grand finale in Las Vegas. The key component is seen in the payouts. There was a time that contestants were hoping to get close to six figures before they arrived at the NFR; now, it’s a staple, and it will likely take $100,000 or more just to earn the trip – only the top 15 contestants on the money list in each event qualify for the championship.

“In the roping, all the rodeos are paying really well,” Nogueira said. “We know a lot of rodeos are adding more money. That makes a huge difference, and that’s great for us. It’s going to take a lot more money than it before just to make the finals.”

Roundup is one of those lucrative rodeos that offers a big payout; Nogueira and Driggers have earned their fair share over the years. They’ve won multiple go-rounds and have another chance to do it again.

“That’s good to get a good check out of here,” Nogueira said. “Hopefully we’ll keep our fingers crossed and we can make it back (to the short round). We’ve got to go to Castle Rock (Colorado) in the morning, then go to the Spicer Grip (in Hereford, Texas) Sunday morning, and hopefully we can come back over here.

“Sometimes you just have to make a run and see what we can come up with.”

Dodge City Roundup Rodeo
Dodge City, Kan.
July 31-Aug. 4, 2024
Bareback riding leaders: 1. Rocker Steiner, 88 points on Frontier Rodeo’s High Heels; 2. (tie) Waylon Bourgeois, Dean Thompson and Jess Pope, 85; 5. Weston Timberman, 84.5; 6. Sam Petersen, 84; 7. Mason Clements, 83; 8. (tie) Cooper Cooke, Jacek Frost and Bradlee Miller, 81; 11. (tie) Darien Johnson and Kade Sonnier, 80.

Steer wrestling: First round leaders: 1. Jacob Edler, 4.0 seconds; 2. Brady Reneau, 4.1; 3. Dakota Eldridge, 4.3; 4. (tie) Kalane Anders, Will Lummus, Gage Hesse and Isaiah Na’auao-Asing, 4.4; 8. Shawn Musil, 4.6. Second round leaders: 1. Quade Potter, 3.6 seconds; 2. 2. Will Lummus, 3.8; 3. Kyle Irwin, 3.9; 4. Sam Goings, 4.1; 5. Bridger Anderson, 4.2; 6. (tie) Winsten McGraw and Tanner Brunner, 4.3; 8. (tie) Trevor Nelson, Jacob Edler, Jesse Brown, Chance Howard, Ty Cochrane and Jarek VanPetten, 4.4. Average leaders: 1. Will Lummus, 8.2 seconds on two runs; 2. Jacob Edler, 8.4; 3. Kalane Anders, 9.1; 4. Dakota Eldridge, 9.6; 5. (tie) Quade Potter and Kyle Irwin, 9.8; 7. (tie) Justin Shaffer and Bridger Anderson, 10.5; 9. Grant Peterson, 11.2; 10. Grady Payne, 12.4; 11. Jarek VanPetten, 13.4; 12. Colt Honey, 13.9.

Team roping: First round leaders: 1. Tyler Wade/Wesley Thorp, 4.9 seconds; 2. Coy Rahlmann/Ross Ashford, 5.2; 3. Tyler Tryan/Logan Moore, 5.4; 4. Curry Kirchner/Jake Edwards, 5.5; 5. Coleman Proctor/Logan Medlin, 5.6; 6. Luke Brown/Travis Graves, 5.7; 7. (tie) Trey Blackmore/Whip Pop Peterson and Clint Summers/Jake Long, 5.8; 4. Erich Rogers/Paul Eaves, 5.9; 5. Jesse Boos/Jace Steenhoek, 6.3; 6. Hagen Peterson/Chase Tryan, 6.4. Second round leaders: 1. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 5.1 seconds; 2. Trey Hall/Cale Morris, 5.4; 3. Riley Kittle/Will Woodfin, 5.5; 4. Tyler Tryan/Logan Moore, 5.7; 5. Brye Crites/Tyler Worley, 5.8; 6. Coy Rahlmann/Ross Ashford, 6.1; 7. Wheston Jones/Blake Barnes, 6.5; 8. Curry Kirchner/Jake Edwards, 6.6. Average leaders: 1. Tyler Tryan/Logan Moore, 11.1 seconds on two runs; 2. Coy Rahlmann/Ross Ashford, 11.3; 3. Brye Crites/Tyler Worley, 11.9; 4. Curry Kirchner/Jake Edwards, 12.1; 5. Tyler Wade/Wesley Thorp, 12.8; 6. Clint Summers/Jake Long, 13.0; 7. Wheston Jones/Blake Barnes, 14.0; 8. Chad Masters/Wyatt Cox, 15.0; 9. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 15.9; 10. Luke Brown/Travis Graves, 16.1; 11. Jesse Boos/Jace Steenhoek, 17.3; 12. Nelson Wyatt/Johnathan Torres, 17.4.  

Saddle bronc riding leaders: 1. Gus Galliard, 87.5 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Big Cloud; 2. Brody Cress, 87; 3. Colt Gordon, 84; 4. Tegan Smith, 83; 5. Jake Finlay, 82.5; 6. (tie) Parker Fleet and Logan Cook, 82; 8. Darcy Radel, 81.5; 9. (tie) Jackson Ford and Weston Patterson, 81; 11. (tie) Cooper Thatcher and Tucker Bourdet, 80.5.

Breakaway roping: First round leaders: 1. (tie) Ashley Goforth and Erin Johnson, 2.5 seconds; 3. Layni Masters, 2.6; 4. Kaitlyn Ricke, 2.7; 5. (tie) McKenna Brennan, Timber Allenbrand and Shayla Hall, 2.9; 8. (tie) Kamie Landolfi and Addie Weil, 3.1; 10. Jordan Jo Hollabaugh, 3.2. Second round leaders: 1. (tie) McKenna Brennan and Danielle Lowman, 2.1 seconds; 3. TiAda Gray, 2.4; 4. (tie) Chenoa Vandestouwe and Martha Angelone, 2.7; 6. Shelby Whiting, 2.8; 7. Kelsie Domer, 3.0; 8. (tie) Kaitlyn Ricke and Taylor Engesser, 3.4; 10. Amber Coleman, 3.5. Average leaders: 1. McKenna Brennan, 5.0 seconds on two runs; 2. Kiatlyn Ricke, 6.1; 3. Kelsie Domer, 6.9; 4. Taylor Engesser, 7.2; 5. Addie Weil, 7.7; 6. Haley Mason, 9.2; 7. Chenoa Vandestouwe, 14.9; 8. Jessica McMaster, 16.3; 9. (tie) Mataya Eklund and Brandi McDowell, 17.0; 11. Jenna Lee Adams, 19.8; 12. Brooke Curuchet, 24.8.

Tie-down roping: First round leaders: 1. Haven Meged, 7.9 seconds; 2. Riley Webb, 8.6; 3. Riley Pruitt, 8.7; 4. (tie) Ty Harris and Marty Yates, 9.3; 6. Clint Graves, 9.4; 7. (tie) Cash Hooper and Luke Potter, 9.6. Second round leaders: 1. Dylan Hancock, 8.1 seconds; 2. John Douch, 8.3; 3. (tie) Riley Webb, Blane Cox and Kason Dyer, 8.4; 6. (tie) Ty Harris and Bryce Loyd, 8.7; 8. Cash Hooper, 8.8. Average leaders: 1. Riley Webb, 17.0 seconds on two runs; 2. Ty Harris, 18.0; 3. Cash Hooper, 18.4; 4. Blane Cox, 18.9; 5. Clint Graves, 19.1; 6. Marty Yates, 19.4; 7. Dylan Hancock, 19.5; 8. Pecos Tatum, 21.0; 9. Bryce Loyd, 22.9; 10. Ryan Belew, 23.4; 11. John Douch, 23.5; 12. Booker McCutchen, 24.4.

Barrel racing: First round leaders: 1. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, 17.50; 2. Loralee Ward, 17.51; 3. Cindy Patrick, 17.56; 4. Megan Albrecht, 17.62; 5. Jessica Routier, 17.74; 6. Suzanne Brooks, 17.77; 7. Ari-Anna Flynn, 17.82; 8. Emily Griffin, 17.85; 9. Kathleen Menard, 17.85; 10. Kallie Gates, 17.90. Second round leaders: 1. Tracy Nowlin, 17.24 seconds; 2. Kathleen Menard, 17.33; 3. Cindy Patrick, 17.36; 4. Kallie Gates, 17.46; 5. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, 17.49; 6. Austyn Tobey, 17.54; 7. Jessi Wade, 17.60; 8. Megan Albrecht, 17.65; 9. Jessica Routier, 17.66; 10. Wenda Johnson, 17.68. Average leaders: 1. Cindy Patrick, 34.92 seconds on two runs; 2. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, 34.99; 3. Kathleen Menard, 35.18; 4. Tracy Nowlin, 35.22; 5. Loralee Ward, 35.23; 6. Megan Albrecht, 35.27; 7. Kallie Gates, 35.36; 8. Jessica Routier, 35.40; 9. Emily Griffin, 35.58; 10. Ari-Anna Flynn, 35.76; 11. Kelly Ferguson, 35.91; 12. Austyn Tobey, 35.94.

Bull riding leaders: 1. (tie) Bubba Greig, on Frontier Rodeo’s Front & Center, and Jate Frost, on Championship Pro Rodeo’s Spotted Rust, 90 points; 3. T.J. Gray, 87.5; 4. Ethan Skogquist, 84.5; 5. (tie) Jestyn Woodward and Trevor Reiste, 83.5; 7. Cooper James, 74; 8. Caleb McCaslin, 73; 9. Jeff Askey, 53; no other qualified rides.