For years and years, there has been a lot of figurative bull—both in and around auto racing.
Now there will be some literal bull with a racing connection.
Richard Childress, a dominant force in NASCAR for decades and a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, will begin pursuit of another form of championship this summer as operator of a team in the new Professional Bull Riders Team Series.
Childress will be the “owner-operator” of the Carolina Cowboys, one of eight city-based teams in the new league. The Cowboys staff will be headquartered at Childress’ NASCAR racing shop in Welcome, North Carolina, although nearby Winston-Salem will be its “home” base. Other teams are located in Austin, Texas; Fort Worth, Texas; Glendale, Arizona; Kansas City, Missouri; Nashville, Tennessee; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Ridgedale, Missouri.
Austin Dillon, Childress’ grandson and one of the drivers for the RCR NASCAR Cup team, will be the Cowboys’ general manager.
The concept was introduced Tuesday at a press conference near Childress’ race shop. In attendance were PBR commissioner Sean Gleason, several bull riders with individual championships and, most impressively, Dangit!, one of the bulls PBR riders will challenge.
For a change, there were more cowboy hats and boots on the RCR campus than racing apparel.
This will not be Childress’ first rodeo.
“My wife (Judy) asked me, with all you have going, why do you need something else?” Childress said. “I can remember taking my grandkids to rodeos and them wearing their little hats and vests (Austin and Ty now race for their grandfather). We’ve been talking about trying this for two years.
“Now I’ve just got to keep my drivers off the bulls.”
The first PBR team series season is scheduled to stretch from July to November, with competition scheduled at 11 sites, including the LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem Sept. 9-11. The championship final is scheduled Nov. 4-6 in Las Vegas.
Competitors will ride the bulls as they have in individual rodeo competition for decades. The difference in this new approach is that they will be scored in a team format. All eight teams will compete in each event.
Each of the eight teams will participate in a rider draft May 23. Team rosters will include seven riders and three practice squad members. The team riders will compete both in the team series and in traditional individual competition during the year.
Former rider Jerome Davis, a bull riding champion who was paralyzed from the waist down in a riding competition in 1998, will serve as the Cowboys’ coach.
“We have a good mix of team owners,” said Gleason. “It’s going to be good for the growth of the sport.” He said owners were chosen through the series’ contacts with individuals across the country.
Gleason said the team events will be broadcast on various CBS network platforms and RidePass on Pluto TV.
