PECOS, Texas – Stacey Grimes fumbled through the box carrying her West of the Pecos Rodeo championship buckle, unfastened her belt and promptly snapped the shiny trophy in place.

“It took me 130 years to win this buckle,” Grimes said jokingly, referring to the anniversary of the World’s First Rodeo and her barrel racing title.

Grimes and her mount, Jetbug, rounded the cloverleaf pattern in 17.28 seconds on Saturday night before a sold-out crowd at Buck Jackson Arena to claim the title during the final performance. It was a great way to close the five days of competition.

“I’ve finished second three times,” said Grimes, of Kerrville, Texas. I had the same horse power last year and won second. This year he was on fire and was ready to win, and thank the good Lord he did.”

With the prized buckle, Grimes claimed the $2,689 first-place prize and beat a strong field. She and Jetbug were so fast, in fact, that they were almost three-tenths of a second faster than runner-up Jana Bean of Fort Hancock, Texas – that’s an eternity in barrel racing.

The Pecos buckle is one of the most sought-after prizes in rodeo, and Grimes has been chasing it for 26 years. Her husband, Johnny, won the tie-down roping title 16 years ago, so they have something else to share.

“I get to bring it home this year, and my family is very excited,” she said. “The check’s great, too; this is one of my favorite rodeos.”

It looks to be one of Sam Powers’ favorite rodeos, too. The 19-year-old cowboy from Sonora, Texas, competed in both tie-down roping and steer wrestling Saturday; more importantly, his 4.5-second run in steer wrestling was good enough for to tie Ty Willick for second place in the second go-round. For that, he earned $1,103.

“It feels great; it’s achieving a dream,” said Powers, who entered the evening just a few dollars shy of the $1,000 in season earnings he needed on his permit in order to be eligible to purchase his ProRodeo card – in rodeo, contestants must meet a minimum requirement in money earned in order to earn the right to compete, and the permit process allows for that.

“I feel like I’m part of the family.”

He should. Powers’ grandfather served on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s board of directors and owned some of the greatest steer wrestling horses in the sport for several years. His father also competed professionally, so he’s carrying a family tradition.

Powers turned 19 on May 10 and plans to purchase his PRCA card as soon as possible. He plans to return to Pecos for years to come, too.

“This gives me confidence when I come back that I can compete here,” he said. “At first it kind of scared me because it’s big and, well, it’s Pecos. But I’ll definitely be coming back to this rodeo.”

West of the Pecos Rodeo
June 26-29
Pecos, Texas
All-around champion: Trevor Brazile, $11,271.

Bareback riding leaders: 1. Taylor Price, 88 points on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Dirty Jacket, $2,978; 2. Will Lowe, 87, $2,283; 3. Tom McFarland, 85, $1,688; 4. (tie) Caine Riddle, Trey Fisher and Steven Dent, 82, 761 each; 7. Matthew Smith, 81, $397; 8. Micky Downare, 79, $298.

Team roping: First round leaders: 1. Travis Tryan/Jake Long, 6.4 seconds, $2,003; 2. (tie) Trevor Brazile/Patrick Smith and Charly Crawford/Ryan Motes, 6.8, $1,485 each; 4. (tie) Dustin Davis/Kinney Harrell and Turtle Powell/Dugan Kelly, 6.9, $794 each; 6. Bubba Buckaloo/Cole Dawson, 7.1, $345. Second round leaders: 1. Trevor Brazile/Patrick Smith, 6.2 seconds, $2,003 each; 2. Chad Masters/Randon Adams, 6.8, $1,658; 3. (tie) Nick Sartain/Rich Skelton and Arky Rogers/Walt Woodard, 7.0, $1,140 each; 6. (tie) Colby Lovell/Martin Lucero and Brandon Webb/Wesley Johnson, 7.4, $484 each. Average: 1. Trevor Brazile/Patrick Smith, 13.0 on two runs, $3,005 each; 2. Arky Rogers/Walt Woodard, 15.0, $2,487; 3. Chad Masters/Randon Adams, 15.0, $1,969; 4. Turtle Powell/Dugan Kelly, 15.3, $1,451; 5. Derrick Begay/Cesar de la Cruz, 15.8, $933; 6. Dustin Davis/Kinney Harrell, 16.2, $518.

Steer roping: First round: 1. Walter Priestly, 12.2 seconds, $1,821; 2. Garrett Hale, 13.7, $1,507; 3. Chance Gasperson, 13.8, $1,193; 4. Reo Lohse, 14.4, $879; 5. Jason Evans, 14.9, $565; 6. Troy Tillard, 15.1, $314. Second round: 1. Dan Fisher, 12.0 seconds, $1,821; 2. Lawson Plemons, 12.2, $1,507; 3. Troy Tillard, 13.1, $1,193; 4. (tie) J. Paul Williams and Landon McClaugherty, 13.5, $722 each; 6. Rod Hartness, 13.9, $314. Third round leaders: 1. Chet Herren, 12.4 seconds, $1,821; 2. Howdy McGinn, 12.5, $1,507; 3. Chance Gasperson, 12.8, $1,193; 4. Coy Thompson, 13.3, $879; 5. Jim Davis, 13.4, $565; 6. (tie) Mike Brewer and Garrett Hale, 13.6, $157 each. Average leaders: 1. Troy Tillard, 42.2 seconds on three runs, $2,732; 2. J. Paul Williams, 47.2, $2,261; 3. Chance Kelton, 47.2, $1,790; 4. Tony Reina, 49.1, $1,319; 5. Scott Snedecor, 52.0, $847; 6. Jim Locke, 54.7, $471.

Saddle bronc riding leaders: 1. Cody Wright, 88 points on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Deuces Wild, $3,149; 2. Jake Wright, 84, $2,414; 3. Isaac Diaz, 82, $1,785; 4. Shane Proctor, 81, $1,155; 5. Jacobs Crawley, 80, $735; 6. Jesse Bail, 79, $525; 7. (tie) Travis Sheets and Nick Laduke, 78, $367.

Tie-down roping: Tie-down roping: First round leaders: 1. Reese Riemer, 8.9 seconds, $1,700; 2. Taylor Smith, 9.1, $1,407; 3. Trevor Brazile, 9.3, $1,114; 4. (tie) Blane Cox and Fred Whitfield, 9.4, $674 each; 6. Justin Maass, 9.6, $293. Second round leaders: 1. Clint Akins, 8.2 seconds, $1,700; 2. Cade Swor, 8.3, $1,407; 3. Trevor Brazile, 8.7, $1,114; 4. Payden Emmett, 9.0, $821; 5. Kiel Rowan, 9.1, $528; 6. Marty Yates, 9.4, $293. Average leaders: 1. Trevor Brazile, 18.0 on two runs, $2,550; 2. Clint Akins, 18.4, $2,222; 3. Cade Swor, 18.7, $1,671; 4. Marty Yates, 19.5, $1,231; 5. Blane Cox, 19.7, $791; 6. Will Kiker, 21.8, $440.

Steer wrestling: First round leaders: 1. Ben Shofner, 5.6 seconds, $1,488; 2. Glen Clark, 6.0, $1,231; 3. Royce Johnson, 6.3, $975; 4. Riley Duvall, 6.4, $718; 5. (tie) Chance Campbell and Bill Pace, 6.7, $359. Second round leaders: 1. 1. Grady Gray, 4.0 seconds, $1,488; 2. (tie) Ty Willick and Sam Powers, 4.5, $1,103 each; 4.Tommy Cook, 5.3, $718; 5. (tie) Cooper Shofner and Weston Taylor, 5.4, $359 each. Average leaders: 1. Ben Schofner, 12.9 seconds on two runs, $1,488; 2. Riley Duvall, 13.6, $1,231; 3. Monty Eakin, 14.3, $975; 4. Bill Pace, 14.4, $718; 5. Gary Gilbert, 15.3, $462; 6. Matt Reeves, 16.8, $257.

Barrel racing leaders: 1. Stacey Grimes,; 2. Jana Bean, 17.56, $2,285; 3. Layna Kight, 17.59, $1,882; 4. Brooke Rix, 17.83, $1,613; 5. Jaime Borrow, 17.88, $1,344; 6. Shelby Frasier, 17.91, $941; 7. (tie) Clay Sewalt and Tiffani Sonnier, 17.92, $605 each; 9. Lindsey Ewing, 17.95, $441; 10. Callie Duperier, 18.00, $403; 11. Kenna Squires, 18.01, $336; 12. (tie) 17.28 seconds, $2,689Martha Wright and Tasha Welsh, 18.02, $134 each.

Bull riding leaders: 1. Elliot Jacoby, 91 points on Pete Carr’s Classic Pro Rodeo’s Hustler, $4,591; 2. (tie) Ricky Aguiar and Beau Schroeder, 89, $3,054 each; 4. Chandler Bownds, 87, $1,680; 5. Shane Proctor, 86, $1,069; 6. (tie) Cameron Bland and Austin Meier, 85, $687 each; 8. Chris Roundy, 84, $458.