Cole Franks spurs Bridwell Pro Rodeos’ Silver Beaver for 85.75 points to finish in a tie for second place during Wednesday’s seventh round of the National Finals Rodeo.
(PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)

 

LAS VEGAS – There was never panic, but dire thoughts crossed Cole Franks’ mind.

It was during Wednesday’s seventh round of the National Finals Rodeo, and he was in a bad spot during his ride on Bridwell Pro Rodeos’ Silver Beaver.

“I dropped the ball on that,” said Franks, a 24-year-old cowboy from Clarendon, Texas. “I got a little behind and got out of shape. About four seconds into it, I saw the dirt coming, and the first thing that came to my mind is ‘That’s the first time I’ve ever seen dirt coming here.’

“I was not about to have it, so I closed my eyes so I couldn’t see anything. I might have made a little bit of a girlish noise when I closed my eyes, but it worked.”

The two titans battled inside the Thomas & Mack Center for 85.75 points. Franks finished the night in a tie for second place, and with it, he powered through for $25,431 points.

“That horse was a little bit more than I expected,” he said. “I knew it was going to buck and it was going to be hard, but he just beat me to the punch right out of the gate. I tried to do a little too much too early, and it got me behind a little bit. It bucked a lot harder than it did the firs time it was out. It just set me up and got me a little out of shape at the start, and I was playing catch-up.

“That’s a freaking awesome horse, and that was the one I wanted. It was just my fault.”

Franks has ridden seven horses for a cumulative score of 593 points and sits fifth in the average race. He’s also earned $57,511 at the NFR so far and sits sixth in the world standings with $257,873. This is his time to shine, and the bulb was a little dull for the first few rounds. It’s starting to shed more light as he rolls toward the final three nights of the 2025 ProRodeo season.

The biggest test will come Thursday night, when the bareback riders face the “eliminator pen,” a grouping of horses considered the most difficult to ride. He will be matched with Rosser Rodeo’s Right On Q, a bronc on which Jess Pope scored 85.75 points to finish fifth this past Saturday. Franks got a taste of what that will be like on Silver Beaver.

“That horse is a lot,” Franks said. “One of the first things that went through my head once I got off was, ‘This was supposed to be our semi-eliminators.’ I’m a little scared for tomorrow.”

The NFR is supposed to be a test. Franks is passing those exams one by one. He may not consider them A-plus results, but passing the biggest test in rodeo is big.