Bull rider Dakota Nye originally from Iowa and now residing in Texas logged miles, entry fees and made his banker happy during the month of September. Occasionally the cowboy gets a home cooked meal if his route takes him near his mother’s house in Iowa. This month big wins with the Championships Bull Riding tour advanced his career and his mom cooked twice for him.
Labor Day marks the last three-day weekend of summer to relax, BBQ and enjoy the paid holiday with family and friends. For Nye it was a weekend full of potential earnings and hundreds of miles on the road between competitions. Nye drove from Texas to South Dakota across the Midwest and a side trip just 24 hours away to Nevada the following weekend for an eight second ride.
“I’m not sure exactly how many miles I drove, but I drove to four states for three different associations. The longest being from Huron, South Dakota to Palestine, Illinois. I think it just takes a lot of faith and willpower to make it work no matter what,” commented Nye about this Labor Day run.
He collected his first September paycheck in Huron, South Dakota during the Championship Bull Riding (CBR) event at the South Dakota State Fair. On Thursday his 85.5 point ride put the first $1,500 in his bank account for the month. A home cooked meal and nine hundred miles later ending a 13-hour drive he bucked off Saturday in Palestine, Illinois at the Pioneer City Rodeo on a Championship Pro Rodeo bull.
Logistically it worked in his favor to make yet another pit stop on Iowa/Illinois border at his mother’s house. Sunday he was up to Dayton, Iowa and rode for 81.5 points making another thousand dollars. Continuing north on Monday he finished at the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul with 74 points on Barnes PRCA Rodeo bull #23. His next route was back to Iowa to compete in Ft. Madison.
Six days later, Nye was in Laughlin, Nevada competing at the Colorado River Chute Out – CBR event, crisscrossing the country to where he met up with Cody Jesus, the 2017 CBR World Finals Champion for a showcase of 90 point rides in the desert.
Nye took a high-flying ride on the highest marked bull of the night with 92.5 points, 222X, Cody Jesus countered with 91 points on his bull Boomer.
The odometer of Nye’s Chevy Cruze is pushing 247,000. In the past two years, Nye has put on nearly 150,000 miles rodeoing. The drive to Laughlin was worth another $1,500 in his pocket and helped fill up his gas tank as he drove back to Iowa.
Fast forward to mid-September where Nye competed in Waterloo, Iowa placing fourth and making an ATM deposit with his winnings. Keeping the driving to a minimum on this leg of the trip he spent three days in Nebraska City, Nebraska competing before heading to the 2018 Horizon Series – 7th Annual Waterloo Optimist Blue Army Bull Bash in Waterloo, Illinois on September 23. Nye will spend the winter in Texas competing and most likely head north for the Rawhide Bullriding Challenge in Sioux City, Iowa on January 13 and 14 at the Tyson Event Center.
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