Rodeo Daily

Egusquiza and Long Dominate Lonestar Shootout

Dustin Egusquiza and Jake Long seize a big win at the 2024 Lonestar Shootout in Abilene, Tex.
Kaitlyn Woodman|
Robertson Hill Ranch Productions

On Thursday, March 21, Robertson Hill Ranch Productions kicked off their annual Lonestar Shootout Open roping with 284 teams for the roping’s first year in Abilene, Texas. The setup was designed to be fast, and the steers were hand-picked to be user-friendly for ropers to post the sub 5-second runs everyone loves to watch. 

This roping holds a unique format like no other event being produced today. It takes after the beloved George Strait Team Roping Classic, historically known for being one of the largest ropings in the country for over 35 years before Strait ultimately decided to stop producing the event in 2017.

Robertson Hill Ranch Productions wasted no time picking up where Strait left off, and in 2018, the Lonestar Shootout was born. This came with an identical format for the Open (with a #16.5 incentive), which includes:

● Rope behind a rope barrier as opposed to your typical electric eye used for jackpots.

● No crossfire rule.

● 10 Second barrier

● Ropers run their first two steers on Thursday, and the top 10 qualifying teams from each rotation plus the top two #16.5 teams qualify back to the three-head finals on Friday night; this makes a total of 60 teams qualifying back to the final rounds. 

● The payout included the Top 8 teams on three head from Friday night’s final rounds, the Top 3 Incentive teams on three head from Friday night’s rounds, and of course the top two fast times from each round on Friday night. 

One team that absolutely dominated the field throughout each round on Friday night, and ultimately took home the Hart trailers and their share of $76,000 in average money alone. Dustin Egusquiza and Jake Long put on a show to be 11.66 on three head giving them an almost two-second lead on the rest of the field.

Egusquiza will always be an unstoppable force with a short score and a quick setup. When you add a great set of steers in the mix that allows him to do his job with ease, everyone else is just gunning for second. His partner, Long, is another roper who is aggressive and quick to get the job done which made for a perfect pair on a setup like the Lonestar Shootout. 

The pair started the night off with a round one fast time of 3.92 seconds, good for a $1,500 check and a confidence boost going into the final two rounds. The night went on to be a storybook ending for the two, winning second in round 2 with a time of 4.04 seconds and coming back to the short round high call back at 7.96 on two head. 

It was “all gas, no brakes” for Egusquiza and Lord in the Short Round as this quick setup made for an all-or-nothing type of situation, and they were 3.7 seconds in the short round for the fastest time of the day to clinch their average title by a mile. 

Not to be overshadowed was World Champion header Kaleb Driggers, who won second, third, and fourth in the open average, splitting his share of $98,000 with his respective partners. Driggers was 13.06 seconds on 3 for second with Wesley Thorp, 13.82 for third with Jade Corkill, and 14.45 for fourth with 17-year-old Nicky Northcott. 

Incentive Champions Cash Palmore and Clay Green not only cashed in on their first-place win for $6,000 but also placed Sixth in the Open average for $15,000. 

Lonestar Shootout Open Full Results

Average

1. Dustin Egusquiza/ Jake Long 11.66 on 3 $76,000

2. Kaleb Driggers/ Wesley Thorp 13.06 $45,000

3. Kaleb Driggers/ Jade Corkill 13.82 $30,000

4. Kaleb Driggers/ Nicky Northcott 14.45 $23,000

5. Jake Smith/ Jessen James 14.78 $18,000

6. Cash Palmore/ Clay Green 14.93 $15,000

7. Denton Parish/ Jace Helton 17.64 $11,000

8. Clay Smith/ Junior Nogueira 18.23 $7,000

#16.5 Incentive

1. Cash Palmore/ Clay Green 14.93 on 3 $6,000

2. Denton Parish/ Jace Helton 17.64 $4,000

3. Lane Goebel/ Chad Mathes 21.11 $2,000

Short Go Fast Time 

1. Dustin Egusquiza/ Jake Long 3.7 $1,500

2. Kaleb Driggers/ Wesley Thorp $1,000

Round 1 Fast Time 

1. Dustin Egusquiza/ Jake Long 3.92 $1,500

2. Cody Snow/ Little Michael Calmelat 4.21 $1,000

Round 2 Fast Time

1. JC Yeahquo/ Logan Moore 3.96 $1,500 

2. Dustin Egusquiza/ Jake Long 4.04 $1,000 

Published
Kaitlyn Woodman
KAITLYN WOODMAN

Kaitlyn grew up in a small east Texas town called Marshall, Texas, and now resides in the “Cutting Horse Capital of the World” Weatherford. The rodeo lifestyle was instilled into Kaitlyn at a young age as her entire family has a rodeo background. She spent most of her life at Martha and RE Josey’s ranch just down the road from her house.  Kaitlyn was lucky enough to have been surrounded by incredible role models in and out of the arena that got her to where she is today both as a competitor and a person. As a barrel racer, Kaitlyn has competed at just about every level the sport offers. The barrel racing industry is something that she is deeply passionate about, whether it be the futurity and derby scene, the rodeo world, or even the breeding side, she finds herself excited to learn new things and grow the industry as much as she possibly can. Kaitlyn graduated from Sul Ross State University in December of 2023 with a Bachelors of Science in Agriculture degree and knew that upon graduation she wanted to get a start in the western sports media industry. Before graduating from Sul Ross, Kaitlyn was able to start a career as an Equine Insurance Agent and takes pride in protecting her customer’s most valuable assets. Kaitlyn is excited to share her passion for the Western Sports and Agriculture industries through her writing, and she strives to reach audiences far beyond our community to advocate for the betterment of our lifestyle!

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