BBR Sanctiong Body of The American Rodeo Qualifications Races Are You Ready for the 2015 RFD-TV’s The American Rodeo The May 21st announcement of the 2014/2015 American Rodeo was met by all of us at BBR with great anticipation as all of us at BBR and the independent producers hosting the coming qualifiers have been chomping at the bit to get the word out to everyone. Primarily because of the hundreds of calls, texts and emails from barrel racers we receive each week asking for information. But also because Qualifier #1 is slated to run the end of June in Pasco, Washington in conjunction with Bobo McMillan’s $25,000 Added Producer Gone Wild Race at TRAC facility. We now have approximately three (3) weeks to spread the word before the books close! This past March the event made rodeo history with its $2 Million payout and visionary format which pitted top professionals cowboys and cowgirls and rodeo legends against the industry’s up and comers. Better Barrel Races, a.k.a. BBR, is partnering with Rural Media Group, the parent company of RFD-TV, on the qualification side once again this season to give professional and amateur barrel racers across the nation a chance to qualify for the 2015 version of the Richest One-Day Rodeo. While many of the American ground rules will not change, there have been a few changes implemented in order to create across the board fairness between the events and the contestants. And in speaking of books closing up above, that is just one of the changes being employed for RFD-TV’s The American Rodeo, Semi-Finals and Qualifiers. Continuity of the Events The pieces of The American that will continue to be the same include: • Contestants entering an American Qualification race must be a current BBR Member. • No age or gender specification or limitations. • A horse may not be ridden by two contestants, or twice by one contestant, in: a Qualification Race, the same round of the Semi-Finals, or the same round at The American Rodeo, regardless of the relationship of the contestants. • A contestant cannot qualify to the Semi-Finals more than once on the same horse. • All contestants must wear “rodeo attire” at every American event (Qualification race, Semi-Finals and The American). • $500 Entry Fee with 100% payback to American Purses (25% at Qualification Race / 25% to Semi-Finals Purse / 50% to American Rodeo Purse) • May enter as many of the 10 qualifiers as you want. • May enter each qualifier 2 times (may not ride the same horse 2 times in one race) • Each qualifier is one run (per entry). • Of the $500 entry fee, 25% is paid at the qualifier race, 25% will be carried over to the Semi-Finals, and 50% will be carried over to THE AMERICAN. • Contestants may qualify twice for the Semi-Finals, however a contestant may not qualify more • Semi-Finals Exemption contestants will still compete in a match competition. • Semi-Finals and The American Qualification is on the rider not the horse. All earnings will be paid to the rider. • Semi-Finals will consist of one slack round, top 20 taken back to the short go. And Short Go will consist of two rodeo perfs with 10 running in one perf and 10 running the other perf. • If a contestant declines a Top 10 invitation, they are not eligible to compete in any event of The American. • The American Rodeo will still consist of the Top 10 from NFR competing against a pre-determined number of Semi-Finalists Qualifiers and Exemption contestants • The American Rodeo format will continue to offer one long round, with the Top 4 moving on to the ShootOut Round where Champion and Reserve Champion will be determined in a clean slate finals (no average on two). • Only Qualifiers and Exemption contestants are eligible for the $1,000,000 bonus money Changes Barrel Racers Need to Be Aware Of RFD-TV will release the official guidelines for the coming season online very soon. And when they do you will be able to find them on the following web sites: rfdtv/story/23228599/theamerican betterbarrelraces/pages/the_american.htm Until they are released, here are a few changes are in store for 2015. EACH AMERICAN QUALIFIER RACE WILL BE A RUN AS A SEPARATE CLASS One very welcome change at each location on the tour is the inclusion of a separate American Qualification Race. This year the contestants entered in the American portion of the event will all run together and be allowed to roll times out of the American to other races taking place that day as specified by the event producer. NO ON SITE LATE ENTRIES THIS SEASON The most important change is there will be NO late entries accepted on site this year. The books for each American Qualifier will close approximately two (2) weeks prior to each advertised race date. BBR will be acting as a central entry office for all ten (10) of the American Qualification Races. The BOOKS CLOSE DEADINE is NOT a postmark deadline. ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED BY 9PM ON THE BOOKS CLOSING DEALDINE. BBR will create the draw, post it online and submit it to the host producer. Entries for the other classes being offered at the host events (Open Jackpot, Futurity, Derby, etc) must be made thru the show producer and will be subject to their regular event rules. RFD-TV will allow vet and Dr. release up to 24 hours prior to the advertised race start time, with 100% payback on the American entry fee. 10 BBR SANCTIONED QUALIFIER RACES THIS SEASON INSTEAD OF 5 Another change is the increase from the original five qualifiers last year to ten (10) qualifiers this season. The five (5) new dates and locations were strategically chosen to encourage increased participation from all across the United States and Canada. The addition of qualifiers in Washington, Montana, Minnesota and Ohio should draw numerous barrel racers across the border to compete. Likewise, those locations plus Florida, added to Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Texas and Mississippi should fully optimize the opportunity for barrel racers everywhere in the United States. BBR Qualifier Dates – Host Event - Locations • Sunday, June 29, 2014 @ 1pm / Producers Gone Wild Barrel Race-Pasco, Washington – BOOKS CLOSE @ 9PM Central JUNE 14th • Sunday, September 14, 2014 @ 8:30am /BBR NE Regional Finals & Best of The Best Barrel Race-Springfield, Ohio – BOOKS CLOSE @ 9PM Central AUGUST 30th • Saturday, September 27, 2014 @ 7:30pm /BBR Western Regional Finals & Mile Hi Finals-Loveland, CO – BOOKS CLOSE @ 9PM Central SEPTEMBER 13th • Saturday, October 4, 2014 @ 6pm /BBR Northern Regional Finals & R&J Arena Barrel Race-Verndale, MN – BOOKS CLOSE @ 9PM Central SEPTEMBER 20th • Saturday, October 11, 2014 @ 11am / Hawki Futurity & BB Barrel Bash-Lincoln, NE – BOOKS CLOSE @ 9PM Central SEPTEMBER 27th • Friday, October 17, 2014 @ 5pm / BBR Eastern Regional Finals & Horse Poor Barrel Race-Starkville, MS – BOOKS CLOSE @ 9PM Central OCTOBER 3rd • Sunday, October 19, 2014 @ 10am / Montana Barrel Daze-Silesia, MT – BOOKS CLOSE @ 9PM Central OCTOBER 4th • Saturday, November 1, 2014 @ 7pm / BBR OK-TX Regional Finals-Glenrose, TX – BOOKS CLOSE @ 9PM Central OCTOBER 18th • Saturday, Novemer 28, 2014 @ 8am / Fiddler’s Turkey Run – Jacksonville, FL – BOOKS CLOSE @ 9PM Central NOVEMBER 14th • Saturday, January 24, 2015 @ 12:30pm / PacWest Futurity & Open Barrel Race-Buckeye, AZ – BOOKS CLOSE @ 9PM Central JANUARY 10th Links to the American Entry Form, the Producer Event Web Sites and Event Entry Forms can all be found at betterbarrelraces/pages/the_american.htm Each of the events hosting an American Qualifier is a two or three day barrel race with rich added money purses in their regular classes. The events were selected (not necessarily in this order) based on location, date, added money purse, attendance, years in production and the positive feedback we receive from contestants who have attended, as well as the producers’ willingness to work with BBR to adjust their schedule to fit the American’s needs. Five of the American Qualifiers will be held in conjunction with BBR Regional Challenge Finals events where BBR puts up $4,000 Added in the Members Only sidepot. There is no qualification need to compete at a BBR Regional Challenge Finals. The inclusion of the BBR Members Only sidepot added money is also beneficial to the American contestants since they must each be a current BBR member to compete in The American Qualification race. GRADUATED SCALE TO DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF SEMI-FINALISTS TO PROCEED TO THE AMERICAN RODEO Last year barrel racing was perceived to receive special treatment by comparison to the other rodeo events. We were allowed to take 10 qualifiers from the Semi-Finals to The American were the other events were only allowed to take 5. This year, in order to make it fair for all events, a sliding scale has been adopted that is structured around the total number of qualification event entries. If fewer than 650 total barrel racing qualifier entries are receive only the Top 5 Semi-Finalists will move on to AT&T Stadium and the American Rodeo. 650-749 the Top 6 Semi-Finalists move on. 750-849 the Top 7 Semi-Finalists move on. 850-949 the Top 8 Semi-Finalists move on. 950-1049 the Top 9 Semi-Finalists move on. 1050 and above the top 10 Semi-Finalists will move on. ADDITIONAL EXEMPTION CANDIDATES TO COMPETE AT THE SEMI-FINALS This season RFD-TV is inviting the High School National Finals and College National Finals Champions to compete at the Semi-Finals as Exemption contestants in addition to the rodeo legend Exemptions and the sanctioning body Champion Exemptions. BBR, HSNFR AND CNFR CHAMPION EXEMPTIONS MAY EARN A 2ND QUALIFICATION Barrel racing Champion exemption contestants may enter qualification races to earn a 2nd Semi-Finals Qualification, but must do so on a horse other than the horse which carried them to the association Championship. For example, BBR World Champion Jackie Ganter may enter twice at as many qualification races as she desires in an attempt earn a 2nd Semi-Finals qualification so long as she does not compete on Blazin Baby J, the horse who carried her to the BBR World Championship. SEMI-FINALS DATE AND LOCATION RFD-TV is in the process of negotiating the date and location of the Semi-Finals and is yet to be announced. AMERICAN RODEO ARENA SET UP BBR and RFD-TV are working together to determine if we can set the barrel pattern up at an angle in one of the AT&T Stadium competition arenas so we can employ a larger pattern with a longer alley for the run in and run out. Any Questions to do with the barrel racing competition of The American can be directed to BBR-Robin Hofmann (405) 615-4998 or via email Robin4998@gmail. Be sure to LIKE Better Barrel Races and RFD-TV’s The American on Facebook to stay up to date on The American Rodeo news!
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 15:00:48 +0000
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