NFR Rookie Takes Over Top Spot in Barrel Racing Average After Round 5

The races are heating up in Las Vegas and the barrel racers are not backing down from this battle for the gold buckle.

Katelyn Scott | Nathan Meyer Photography

Each year, we are amazed at how the bar continues to rise in barrel racing. The horsepower is simply incredible and there are many talented jockeys in the field. By Round 5 of the 2025 National Finals Rodeo (NFR), the last hole to earn a check was a 13.63.

Like the other events, it is not just about the speed and the round wins. The NFR Average will pay one cowgirl nearly six figures and that could be the deciding factor in this World Championship race. The Average pays eight places and all of those checks will be for a tidy sum. The top two places will be especially impactful, at $94,036 and $76,293.

Barrel Racing

Katelyn Scott | PRCA

At the midway point of the 2025 NFR, five cowgirls are still clean on their first five runs. Despite a fall in Round 3, Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi was able to keep the barrels up and is holding the fifth position.

Pozzi Tonozzi is a player in this gold buckle fight, as she has moved up to No. 3 in the World. After Sir Epic fell in Round 3, the 18-time NFR qualifier stepped on a young horse, by the same sire as "Sir." JL Roc Lost A Sock ("Mo") has kept her in the fight, staying clean on the two runs he has made so far.

Pozzi Tonozzi and Sir | PRCA Photo by Mallory Beinborn

Julie Plourde sits No. 4 in the Average, after an incredibly consistent performance in the first five rounds. Despite getting the last-minute call to replace No. 8 cowgirl, Anita Ellis, Plourde looks like she has not missed a beat since the regular season ended on September 30. She has not yet earned a round check, but stands to bank a healthy Average check at the end of the week.

Currently, Kassie Mowry leads the World Standings by just $2,000 over Kinsel. Unlike Kinsel, Mowry is clean in the Average and is No. 2 in that race by just seven-hundredths of a second.

Tied with Mowry at No. 2 is Tricia Aldridge. While winning the World is not out of reach for Aldridge, she is roughly $60,000 back in the World Standings, at No. 7.

Tricia Aldridge | Nathan Meyer Photography

The cowgirl leading the Average currently has made big moves in Vegas. Katelyn Scott came into the NFR ranked No. 15, after a grueling battle in the final days of the regular season. She has placed in all of the first five rounds. Scott is not riding like a rookie in the Thomas & Mack and that effort has helped her climb to No. 8 in the World.

After earning her fifth check of the week in Round 5, Scott officially took over the lead in the Average race at 68.63 seconds.

Katelyn Scott | PRCA Photo By Click Thompson

Hailey Kinsel, Emily Beisel, and Megan McLeod-Sprague are currently the fastest cowgirls with a tipped barrel and sit to earn the checks for sixth to eighth places.

Kinsel and Beisel are still in the World Championship race. While a tipped barrel is to their detriment, it has not completely taken them out of an Average check. A second tipped barrel for either cowgirl in the next five rounds would likely take them out of contention.

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