Legendary Rodeo Coaches to Helm Six Teams at Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo

Trevor Brazile, Charmayne James, Bobby Mote, Cody Ohl, Sid Steiner and Fred Whitfield to lead six teams inside AT&T Stadium for a million-dollar purse.

The format for professional rodeo hasn’t changed too much since the first organized “cowboy tournament” in Prescott, Arizona on July 4, 1888.

But a lot will be different at Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo on May 17 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas competing for a $1-million purse in opening the biggest weekend in Western sports ahead of PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast Championship.

In addition to an all-out music infusion, including a performance by Kid Rock, rodeo athletes will be joining six teams coached by a half dozen legends in rodeo.

In another first, every discipline – barrel racing, bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, and breakaway roping – will compete at the same time on the dirt in a tournament-style bracket for the million-dollar purse. Think NHRA drag racing for the timed events.

As for the teams, their six coaches and fun names are being revealed at a star-studded event tonight at the House of Blues Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay.

Trevor Brazile, Charmayne James, Bobby Mote, Cody Ohl, Sid Steiner and Fred Whitfield will helm the six squads set to take over the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys the day before the PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Championship.

These six coaches are a formidable group of winners. They’ve earned 56 PRCA world titles, more than 30 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo aggregate titles, and collectively qualified for the WNFR 100 times.

They’ll lead the following teams each named for a classic song selected by Kid Rock: Low Riders, Misty Mountain Hop, Free Riders, Convoy, Jokers, and Sledge Hammers.

With the coaches and teams named, next comes the formation of the six squads.

Five of the six teams will draft their team members. The final team will come together through a qualifying format conducted by the WCRA. Both the teams draft and qualifying format will be announced separately, according to PBR.

“We’re planning for fans a sports and entertainment experience like no other,” said Sean Gleason, CEO and Commissioner, PBR. “The Kid Rock’s Rock N’ Rodeo is a new mash-up of rodeo and rock and roll: an all-American, patriotic, competitive Western sporting event where the best rodeo athletes in the world join teams for competition on the dirt that rocks as hard as the music surrounding it.”

The all-star rodeo team competition and upbeat production will be patterned after the successful formula PBR brought to bull riding through the Teams league launched in 2022.

Each competing team will be comprised of two barrel racers, bareback riders, saddle bronc riders, tie-down ropers, team ropers (headers), team ropers (heelers), steer wrestlers, and breakaway ropers, rotating though the starting position.

Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo begins at 7:45 p.m. CT on Friday, May 17. Following the can’t-miss rodeo, the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast concludes with the Championship when the 2024 PBR World Champion will be crowned, and presented the coveted gold buckle and $1 million bonus. The 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Championship begins on Saturday, May 18 at 7:45 p.m. CT and concludes on Sunday, May 19 at 1:45 p.m. CT.

Coach and Team pairings for the inaugural Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo

Trevor Brazile / Courtesy PBR

Trevor Brazile – Low Riders

• Some argue that Brazile is the greatest-ever all-around cowboy, competing in tie down roping, team roping, as both header and heeler, and steer roping, and winning an unprecedented 26 World Championships. He is the only PRCA athlete to have won more than $7 million. Only he and Pro Rodeo Hall of Famer Dale Smith have qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR) in four events.

Charmayne James / Courtesy PBR

Charmayne James – Misty Mountain Hop

• No cowgirl has won more WPRA world championships in barrel racing than James. Of her 11 WPRA barrel racing world titles, 10 came in consecutive years (1984- 1993). Qualifying for the WNRF 19 times, she won seven WNFR barrel racing average titles and was the first barrel racer to eclipse $1 million in career earnings. In 1987, James made history in becoming the first WPRA member to wear the No. 1 back number at Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

Bobby Mote / Courtesy PBR

Bobby Mote – Free Riders

• Hailed by many as the greatest bareback rider in history, Mote in 2012 became the first to surpass $2 million in earnings. After embarking on a fulltime rodeo career in 2000, beginning in 2001, Mote qualified for the WNFR 15 consecutive years. In 2002, he won his first of four PRCA bareback riding world championships, also riding supreme in 2007, 2009 and 2010. In his mid-20s Mote took up team roping, and in 2012 finished runner-up to Trevor Brazile in the All-Around Championship.

Cody Ohl / Courtesy PBR

Cody Ohl – Convoy

• Calf roper, steer roper and team roper Ohl delivered one of the PRCA’s most memorable rookie seasons in 1994 when crowned Rookie of the Year and making his first WNFR as a tie-down roper. In 1997, Ohl won his first World Championship, edging Fred Whitfield by $5,031. The title would be Ohl’s first of six; he’d nab tie-down roping titles in 1998, 2001, 2003 and 2006. In 2001, Ohl was crowned All Around Champion. Ohl only missed one WNFR qualification from 1994-2014. He entered an elite group of competitors in 2012, crossing $3 million in earnings.

Sid Steiner / Courtesy PBR

Sid Steiner – Jokers

• World champion steer wrestler Steiner, a trailblazing showman who competed from 1995 to 2002, hails from a family with a rich rodeo history. Fourth generation of the legendary rodeo producers Buck and Tommy of Steiner Rodeo Company, Sid is the son of 2005 PBR Ring of Honor inductee and 1973 RCA World Champion bull rider Bobby Steiner. Sid Steiner reached the ultimate dream of any rodeo competitor when he was crowned World Champion Steer Wrestler in 2002 by winning that year’s WNFR aggregate. With his wild tattoos and piercings, the charismatic cowboy was nicknamed Sid Rock. After being crowned World Champion in 2002, Sid Steiner retired.

Fred Whitfield / Courtesy PBR

Fred Whitfield – Sledge Hammers

• Whitfield is one of the most durable and decorated Black cowboys in rodeo, qualifying for the WNFR 20 times. He is a seven-time tie-down roping PRCA world champion and was once crowned the all-around champion, while also winning the WNFR average in tie-down roping four times. When Whitfield won the 1991 tie-down roping title, he became the second Black cowboy in PRCA history to win a world title, and then became the first Black Western sports athlete to win an all-around title in 1999. Whitfield’s 10-head total of 84.0 seconds on the way to the aggregate title in 1997 is regarded as one of the WNFR’s greatest performances. During his storied career, Whitfield became just the third cowboy to surpass $2 million in career earnings.