Kid Rock's Rock N Rodeo Showcases World Champion Athletes in $100,000 Competition

Dickies Arena, the home of the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, played host to Kid Rock's Rock N Rodeo Qualifier on Thursday, January 23. Some of the best athletes in the world came to Texas to compete as a team member and possibly earn their share of the $50,000 prize awarded to the championship team.

So, what exactly is this and what is the format? To make a bit of a complicated situation simple, we will lay it out like this. There are five teams that each will showcase two competitors in each event. The teams are all coached by notable rodeo legends that include multi-time World Champions.

The coaches will get to pick who they want to compete in each event and also have the availability of substitues in case someone is injured or can't perform. The two contestants on each team will have their times or scores added together to determine which team wins the event. The top two teams when all of the competition is over will then advance to the Shootout Round to determine the ultimate championship team.

Only one athlete will compete for each team in the Shootout and the fastest time or highest score will win the event.

To begin, let's take a look at the teams and who competed in the long round.

The Jokers are coached by Sid Stiner and Joe Beaver:

Bareback Riding: Cole Franks and Tim O’Connell
Barrel Racing: Paige Jones and Steely Steiner
Breakaway Roping: Cheyanne McCartney and Madison Outhier
Saddle Bronc Riding: Mitch Pollock and Brody Cress
Steer Wrestling: Bray Armes and JD Struxness
Tie-Down Roping: Haven Meged and John Douch
Team Roping: Nelson Wyatt (Header)/Jonathan Torres (Heeler) and Colby Lovell (Header)/Jade Corkill (Heeler)

The Low Riders are coached by Trevor Brazile and Dale Brisby:

Bareback Riding: Jacob Lees and Jess Pope
Barrel Racing: Italy Sheehan and Carlee Otero
Breakaway Roping: Kelsie Chace Domer and Josie Conner
Saddle Bronc Riding: Chase Brooks and Jacobs Crawley
Steer Wrestling: Tyler Pearson and Clayton Hass
Tie-Down Roping: Joel Harris and Shane Hanchey
Team Roping: Clint Summers (Header)/Jake Long (Heeler) and Tyler Wade (Header)/Wesley Thorp (Heeler)

The Convoy are coached by Cody Ohl and Saylor Ohl:

Bareback Riding: Dean Thompson and Kade Sonnier
Barrel Racing: Stevi Hillman and Kayla Costa
Breakaway Roping: Shelby Boisjoli-Meged and Macy Auclair
Saddle Bronc Riding: Kade Bruno and Layton Green
Steer Wrestling: Jace Melvin and Dirk Tavenner
Tie-Down Roping: Riley Webb and Blane Cox
Team Roping: Jake Smith (Header)/ Douglas Rich (Heeler) and Clay Smith (Header)/Coleby Payne (Heeler)

The Sledge Hammers are coached by Fred Whitfield and Curtis Pederson:

Bareback Riding: Tanner Aus and Chad Rutherford
Barrel Racing: Stephanie Fryar and Kalli McCall
Breakaway Roping: Taylor Munsell and Martha Angelone
Saddle Bronc Riding: Cort Scheer* and Cash Wilson
Steer Wrestling: Tucker Allen and Justin Shaffer
Tie-Down Roping: Shad Mayfield and Riley Pruitt
Team Roping: Brenten Hall (Header)/Kaden Profili (Heeler) and Kellan Johnson (Header)/ Carson Johnson (Heeler)

Finally, the last team the Misty Mountain Hop is coached by Charmayne James and Justin McKee:

Bareback Riding: Roedy Farrell and Nicholas Pelke
Barrel Racing: Wenda Johnson and LaTricia Duke
Breakaway Roping: Danielle Lowman and Jordan Jo Hollabaugh
Saddle Bronc Riding: Statler Wright and Lane Schuelke
Steer Wrestling: Paul Melvin and Cody Devers
Tie-Down Roping: Kincade Henry and Jake Pratt
Team Roping: Kaleb Driggers (Header)/Junior Nogueira (Heeler) and Korbin Rice (Header)/ Josh Patton (Heeler)

In the bareback riding competition it was the Jokers that took the win in the long round. In the Shootout Round to face off in head-to-head competition would be the Jokers versus the Low Riders. Jess Pope was first out and had an beautiful ride for an 85.5 point ride. Cole Franks nodded his head second when he earned 87 points to keep the Low Riders alive in the fight to be the first team to get four event wins.

The barrel racers had some trouble getting the timing down for the start. This isn't just another rodeo - it is a completely different format. Runs start based on a drag strip lighting system. In all of the timed events, the time starts when then lights show green so timing was especially important in the barrel race.

After the 10 runners had completed, it was the Jokers and the Low Riders who took the top two spots to come back in the Showdown. Their coaches chose Paige Jones and Italy Sheehan to go head-to-head. Sheehan was just fast enough to take the top spot for the Low Riders.

The team ropers came out in what the announcers called a "knife fight." It was tough competition the whole way through and some of the steers made it even harder. The Low Riders pulled through and took the win for their team. It was the familiar team Jokers that would challenge in the Showdown. The Low Riders picked Tyler Wade and Wesley Thorp to rope and they did their jobs by stopping the clock at 6.09 while Colby Lovell and Jade Corkhill couldn't get faced and ended up with a 6.93. This gave the Low Riders yet another event win.

In the steer wrestling, the Low Riders showed off with the fastest run in the long round with Clayton Hass. He would come back in the Showdown to clock a 5.91-second run. He was faced with challenging team Jokers own JD Struxness, the newly crowned World Champion. When the steer fell, Struxness stopped the clock at 6.65 giving the Low Riders the win.

The tie-down ropers had some incredible names and multiple World Champions backing in the box. Team members Haven Meged and John Douch carried the Jokers to the win in this event. In the Showdown round the Low Riders selected Shane Hanchey to face Haven Meged. Hanchey missed his hooey and had a very loose tie but the calf stayed down for a time of 9.68. Meged backed in the box to try to bring the Jokers back in the game. His calf ran a little hard and he clocked a 10.46.

The talented ladies of the breakaway struggled a little bit to put two times together as a team, but make no mistake about it, they still put on a great show. Ultimately it was the Sledgehammer team members that caught two calves and took the win. The ladies didn't get the chance to compete in the Showdown because the Low Riders had already won four events and took the win.

The saddle bronc riders of team Convoy showed off to take the win in the long round while the Jokers found some more luck to take the second place finish. Here again though this event only got to compete once as the team win had already happened.