McAlester, Okla.
This place feels a lot like home to Mike Chase. The Lazy E Arena is just two and a half hours from his birth home of El Dorado, Kan., and just two and a half hours from his place near McAlester, Okla.
What’s most important, the Lazy E is home to the Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping, and that’s where he wants to be this weekend. He earned the right by finishing 15th in the world standings at the end of the regular season, pocketing $27,375.
Chase won the event title in Hugo, Okla., in the state’s southeastern most region. That was great, but he earned the right to rope in this weekend’s championship by being solid throughout the year. That’s what it takes to compete at an elite level.
That’s why he’s hoping it carries over to this finale, which features the largest purse of any event in 2013.