–Event to Offer Open Entry For Both Youth And Open Athletes–
World Champions Rodeo Alliance (WCRA) today announced that in light of COVID-19 restrictions in the state of Washington, the Puget Sound Showdown will be replaced with a one-day $300,000 rodeo in Guthrie, OK at the Lazy E Arena on August 15. The “Stampede At The E” will be coupled with the renowned Bullnanza on August 14, creating a weekend of premier western sports action.
The Stampede At The E will be preceded by timed event and rough stock qualifier August 11-14 which will raise the week’s total payout upwards of $600,000. The top eight athletes in each discipline from the qualifier will earn a spot in the Saturday night Stampede At The E main event.
Contestants in nine disciplines—bareback riding, women’s breakaway roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, tie-down roping, barrel racing, bull riding, and team roping (heading and heeling)—will compete for their piece of the $300,000 purse. Athletes in each discipline will compete for share of $28,000 in the main event with the champions walking away with a minimum of $12,500 each.
Bull riders will compete for a total $78,000 purse as the $50,000 payout from Kansas City is carried over due to no qualified rides in the showdown round at the Royal City Roundup. The bull riding event champion will earn a minimum payout of $62,500.
Athletes from around the globe have the opportunity to compete in the Stampede at the E and may qualify and earn points by nominating their efforts through the WCRA Virtual Rodeo Qualifier (VRQ) until July 26 at 11:59 p.m. CT. The number one athlete on the segment six leaderboard in each discipline as of July 26 will earn a direct spot in the $300,000 main event.
WCRA also announced any athlete has the opportunity to compete at Stampede At The E through the addition of the “Open to the World Qualifying Pools” for the opportunity to compete in the August 15 main event.
Youth athletes ages 13 and up will also have an opportunity of their own to run at the Stampede At The E, as the WCRA also announced the addition of DY Youth Pool of competition.
Open To The World Entries for the Stampede at The E will begin on July 13 at Noon CT and close on August 5 at 5 p.m. CT. Early entry fees for the open division will be $625 while youth fees will be $500. All entries will be taken on entrytool.com.
A total of 10 positions in timed events and nine positions in rough stock will be available in the Stampede at The E with multiple combinations of pay-outs available throughout all stages of qualification.
All athletes ranked 1-16 on the WCRA Leaderboard in timed events and 1-9 in rough stock will not be required to pay an entry fee.
Additional details on open entry, entry fees, and event format will be released next week.
If WCRA athletes would like to request a refund for their segment six nominations, please email [email protected] by Friday June 26 at Noon for a full refund.
All rodeo athletes interested in learning more about the VRQ should be directed to wcrarodeo.com or contact [email protected]
Since launching in May of 2018, the WCRA and its partners have awarded more than $7,300,000 in new money to rodeo athletes.
