Night One of PBR's Thunder Days Thrills as Keeping Walks It Off

In Ridgedale, MO there were three walk-off bull rides. Thunder Days is shown to be a place to take cover, especially when King Keeping is in the house.

Isabelle Brown | Sep 17, 2023

Night One of PBR's Thunder Days Thrills as Keeping Walks It Off /

Starting a successful and thrilling night at Thunder Days in Ridgedale, Missouri Friday night, it was no sleeper of an event with the teams on fire making almost every ride count.

With the first night of Thunder Days at an end and the second night on the way, night one took on with the number three as three teams and three riders made three walk-off rides.

Arizona Ridge Riders pulled through and knocked out the Austin Gamblers at the start of the night. With only being a part of the team for a short while, Leandro Machado pulled his first walk-off ride for the team. This ended the round in a win for the Ridge Riders. Machado took on Hoka Hey for 8 seconds as if it was a breeze pulling an 86.75. This put his team at a total of 262 points.

The Outlaws of Kansas City proved they wouldn't go out without a fight. The show-stopping ride of Kyler Oliver made all the difference in putting the tie between the Outlaws and Thunder to an end. Oliver sitting atop Tijuana Two-Step, had the clock stopped at 5 seconds with what appeared to be a hand hit off the bull. However, after further review, it was clarified to be a clean ride. It was an 8-second ride for 85.50 points!

And then...there was...Daniel Keeping. The Texas Rattlers put their faith into Keeping at the end of the round. This allowed him to secure a dramatic walk-off ride on Black Ice for a score of 87 points. Putting the team at 248.25 points...for the win.

This is not Keping's first walk-off! He also scored a dramatic walk-off ride in the previous year for the Rattlers' first outing at Ridgedale in 2022. Keeping is the walk-off King! King Keeping may very well be his new title.

Only being night one, night two is expected to be just as thrilling and full of new accomplishments for each team and their riders. Thunder Days is proving the storm each team brings may require others to take shelter.

Published Sep 17, 2023

ISABELLE BROWN

Isabelle is from a small town in southern Illinois where she grew to love her family, friends, and small-town community. Growing up in a small town, she learned and started her background in agriculture and knowledge of equine and barrel racing. Isabelle spent many years riding and training with her uncle, this allowed her to work with many young futurity prospects. Barrel racing brought her some of her closest friends and her to some of the best opportunities she has been presented in her life. She was a part of 4-H from the time she was in the 3rd grade till her graduating year of high school which allowed her to broaden her knowledge outside of equine. After graduating high school in 2019 Isabelle moved to Murray, Kentucky where she continued her education at Murray State University. Although she wasn’t a participant on the rodeo team she traveled with the team to most of their events. She also continued to individually compete in barrel racing until 2022. At the start of 2022, she decided to take a break from school to travel and to find what her passion was. She found herself in north Texas. This led her to the opportunity to start and grow with Sports Illustrated Rodeo Daily. She plans to use this opportunity to spread her knowledge and love for the animals and the sport(s) they allow us to engage in. Instagram: izzyb_brown01