10/30/2025
It happens every year: Questions and confusion over how NFR back numbers are decided, and how in the world a guy lower in the world standings can have a lower NFR back number than a guy who won more than he did during the regular season. I’m here to explain the finer points on how the world standings and NFR back numbers work.
There is sometimes a big difference between the world standings and NFR back number-determining earnings. Why? Because unofficial earnings count toward back numbers, but not the world standings.
Stetson Wright and Wacey Schalla will wear NFR back numbers 1 and 2 in Las Vegas this year, so I’ll use them as my poster boys on this particular point. Yes, they’ve won more money than anyone else this regular season.
But check this out…
Stetson and Wacey are 1-2 in the world all-around race, after both qualifying in two events for this year’s Super Bowl of Rodeo.
In the world all-around standings:
1 Stetson Wright, $391,671
2 Wacey Schalla, $358,986
In the NFR back numbers earnings column:
1 Stetson Wright, $515,511
2 Wacey Schalla, $488,705
Why the discrepancy?? For Stetson, that’s $165,336 for finishing 12th in the regular-season saddle bronc riding standings, and $350,175 for being second only to Wacey in the bull riding.
For Wacey, it’s $352,596 as the leader of the regular-season bull riding pack, and another $136,109 for being 13th so far in the 2025 world ba****ck riding standings.
Why don’t their earnings from each event add up to their earnings in the world all-around race? That’s because the number of rodeos cowboys can count as official toward their world standings differs from event to event.
The cowboys in each event make the call on this, and in 2025, the magic number was 100 rodeos official max for ba****ck and saddle bronc riders, 125 for bull riders, 85 for steer wrestlers and 80 for tie-down ropers and team ropers. But to level the playing field across events in the world all-around race, only 70 rodeos count toward the world all-around standings.
Every time a cowboy enters a rodeo, he declares that rodeo either official or unofficial. If he wins big after unofficialing it, well, tough beans. The money he wins is good in his bank account, but does not hit the world standings. There’s an extra layer of gamesmanship here for all-around contenders, who also have to declare whether or not each rodeo counts as one of their official 75 in the all-around race before they go compete there.
Now for some random event-specific 2025 NFR back number examples:
~ In the steer wrestling, three-time qualifier Bridger Anderson is ranked 12th in the world with $109,328 won during the regular season. Chance Howard is 13th riding into his first NFR with $108,298. Why, then, does Chance have NFR back number 115 and Bridger back number 116? It’s because all $109,328 of Bridger’s earnings were official, and Chance’s total money won was $110,104, including unofficial earnings that did not count toward the world standings.
~ Florida will send two native sons to Cowboy Town on the heading side of the team roping this year. Lake City’s Clint Summers is fourth in the world with $161,242 won with comeback kid Jade Corkill, and will wear NFR back number 51. Meanwhile, Marianna’s Dustin Egusquiza drives into Vegas ranked fifth in the world with $160,703 won—some with Levi Lord, and some with his brother-in-law JC Flake. But because unofficial money bumps Dustin’s total earnings up to $171,732 on the regular season, he will wear NFR back number 38 when he backs in the box with Lord at the Thomas & Mack (because neither of their regular-season partners quite made the Top 15 cut).
Some additional world standings fine-point fun facts:
~Stand alones (single-event competitions sanctioned by the PRCA) do not count toward the all-around race, because all members don’t have the same shot at that money. This includes PRCA Xtreme Bulls events.
~Ground money—where it’s winner-take-all if only one guy makes the whistle—only counts toward the world standings in the bull riding. This, too, was voted on by the cowboys themselves, and it’s why those of us covering the bull riding at the NFR carry Tums at all times to get through the week.
Back to NFR back numbers did-you-knows:
~ PRCA and WPRA barrel racers are thrown into the same mixing bowl, and earn back numbers by equal standards. But there is an asterisk for the barrel racers, who cannot count money won at non-PRCA-sanctioned events toward their place in the NFR back numbers line. In case you’re curious, barrel racers can count 100 rodeos toward the world standings and the NFR, and breakaway ropers can count up to 80 rodeos toward world standings and the National Finals Breakaway Roping. Both also carry a 25-rodeo minimum to be NFR-eligible.
~ Since so many team roping teams start and finish the regular season together, they often have equal earnings. In that case, he who’s had his PRCA card the longest gets the lower back number. Season leaders Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira, with equal earnings of $198,498 a man so far in 2025, will wear NFR back numbers 19 and 20, respectively. Makes sense, since Driggers was the 2009 Resistol Rookie Header of the Year, and and Nogueira was the 2014 Resistol Rookie Heeler of the Year.
And back to the all-around conversation:
~ Yes, steer roping money won during the regular season does count toward the world all-around race and also NFR back number designations, even though the steer ropers have a finals of their own. The 2025 National Finals Steer Roping will be held November 14-15 at the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kansas…the week before the November 20-22 Prairie Circuit Finals plays out there.
~ Also, NFSR money won does count toward the NFR all-around title, which came into play over the years for cowboy greats the likes of Trevor Brazile, Roy Cooper, Joe Beaver, Cody Ohl and Tee Woolman.
~ No NFR all-around awards were even ordered the last couple years, because no cowboys qualified for a National Finals in two events. The PRCA does have a Cactus Saddlery in the works this year, and Stetson and Wacey are the only two cowboys eligible to win it. Just another layer in their desert duel for the gold all-around and bull riding buckles.
I hope these answers help demystify this year’s Official NFR Experience back numbers and world standings questions. And that those hung up on back numbers are heartened by the fact that literally no lead is safe in the 2025 world championship races with $36,667.95 on the line to the round winners 10 nights in a row, with the $94,035.54 NFR average champs checks kicker on closing night. That deserves a big, fat WOW from us all. I know it gets one from the lifelong “more money for cowboys (and cowgirls) girl.”
Pretty cool way to celebrate 40 years in Vegas. See you all there.
Fernando Sam-Sin Photo of Stetson Wright ****ckriding
