Fall Success Gives Bull Rider Billy Quillan Building Blocks for 2027 Season

With more than $18,000 already in the bank, the refocused roughstock cowboy has sights on big things in the upcoming season.

Bull rider Billy Quillan has already picked up more than $18,000 in earnings towards the 2027 season, putting him No. 2 in the early PRCA World Standings | Fernando Sam-Sin/@fsamsin

Billy Quillan made a commitment in 2026 that came with no guarantees. 

Since becoming a carded competitor in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association in 2019, the Fallon, Nev., bull rider split his focus between rodeos and crushing rocks.

Quillan’s full-time job involved pulverizing material at a Nevada mine during the work week. On the side, he traversed the country for bull rides when he could. 

After years of balancing the two, Quillan decided to hone in on the PRCA competition and chase his dream. 

“I quit my $150,000 job and decided I was going to take bull riding seriously,” Quillan said. “I just kind of kept rolling with it. I wouldn’t say I’ve rode more bulls this year than I ever have – I just really went harder than I ever have.”

What transpired over the 2026 season was his best showing yet. He earned more than $73,400 and cracked the top 40 of the PRCA World Standings for the first time in his career, finishing at No. 39. 

That momentum appears to be rolling into 2027. 

Quillan closed October with a flourish, winning the average at the California Circuit Finals Rodeo before taking runner-up at the Reno XBulls Division 2 event last weekend. Those performances have netted him $18,134 in prize money towards 2027, putting Quillan No. 2 in the early edition of the PRCA World Standings.

“The Lord has been taking care of me and he’s blessed me with some good draws,” Quillan said of his recent run. “I’ve just been lucky and drawn some of the best ones you can get on right now and it’s working out for me.”

The win at the circuit finals was a milestone for Quillan as he hasn’t had much success at the event. While he’s picked up round money over the years, he’s never had a run of three straight matchups that fit his style. 

That changed this year as he opened with back-to-back runner-up efforts in the first two goes before taking first against All In Pro Rodeo’s Rogue One in the final round. 

Just before Halloween, he was in Reno for the XBulls Division 2 competition featuring Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifiers like T.J. Gray, Colten Fritzlan and Lane Vaughan. His draw, Big Stone Rodeo’s Cherry Bomb, was a rematch from May when the two squared off at the Yuba City (Calif.) Division 2 XBulls event. 

“I was on that bull a little earlier this year and he bucked me off at like 7.8 or something. I wasn’t going to let that happen again,” Quillan said. He went for 88.5 points to finish one point behind Gray for first. “He was the favorite bull that everybody loves to get on and I couldn’t waste it a second time. So I figured I had to capitalize on it.”

While the calendar still has two months before 2027 officially arrives and there’s still plenty of season left to unfold, Quillan is excited about where he’s at. He hopes to keep adding to his ledger over the next few weeks, giving him a headstart on the competition before the new year. 

If nothing else, his gamble to focus solely on bull riding appears to be paying off – and that’s rewarding in itself. 

“It was definitely good to have all that money coming in (from my full-time job), but it’s dang sure more fun to ride bulls, I’ll tell you that,” Quillan joked.

“It’s a great deal to have won this much so far. I try not to focus on the money, I’m just trying to have fun with it. If it works out, it works out. Just as long as I do what I can do, the rest is in the Lord’s hands and that’s what I try to remind myself.”