In fact, his eight 90-plus rides are the highwater mark among the Top 35 riders for the elite PBR tour this year.
Leme’s ride came on the heels of Outlaw bringing the crowd to its feet with 90 points on Bezerk, which followed his self-described disappointing third-round buck-off at 7.22 seconds.
“I was just pissed off I bucked off that long round bull,” said Outlaw, in the excitement of his 25th career 90-point ride (at all levels of professional competition), which put him atop the leader board. “I dropped the fight to the son of a gun.”
“We’re seeing amazing bull riding,” said nine-time World Champion Ty Murray and the namesake of the 23rd annual Ty Murray Invitational.
However, Leme answered the challenge and now leads Outlaw by 489 points in the world standings as the two Monster Energy teammates continue to be the most dynamic bull riders on tour.
“I ain’t worried about no world standings race right now,” Outlaw said. “All I’m worried about is the bull that I got. I ain’t changing my game. I gotta take it one bull at a time."
“If I do that, the rest will take care of itself.”
Outlaw continues to impress everyone with his attitude, toughness, grit, focus and the sheer determination to win a world title.
During this this past weekend’s television broadcast on CBS Sports Network, Murray said there is not a rider more committed than Outlaw. He went so far as to say no one loves the sport of bull riding or craves it more than the Hamburg, Arkansas, native.
The left-handed riding, seven-time World Finals qualifier is in his eighth season.
“You don’t see guys get older and have more injuries, especially like Chase, and get better,” said Murray, who noted that age usually goes against a bull rider.
For Outlaw, his success comes from his effort, passion and how badly he truly wants it.
“They ain’t going to give it to nobody,” said Outlaw, regarding the elusive gold buckle and the $1 million bonus eventually paid to the World Champion in November. “You gotta go take it.”
Outlaw, Leme and the rest of the Monster Energy team will be in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with the rest of the Top 35 riders on May 31 and June 2 for the Green Bay Invitational at the Resch Center.