Austin Gamblers can sew up second regular-season title, but have 'unfinished business'
For the Austin Gamblers, the 2023 Camping World Team Series has been all about taking care of unfinished business.
Austin's professional bull riding team has thundered through the regular season in dominant fashion. Already having secured a first-round bye for the postseason, the Gamblers could clinch the regular-season championship this weekend in Fort Worth. Their top rider, Jose Vitor Leme, is poised to win the league's MVP award and another Gambler, Dalton Kasel, could finish as high as second.
Still, the Gamblers know they must take care of business in order to wash away the bad taste left in their mouths from last year's early exit in the Las Vegas Championship. Last year, the Gamblers also won the regular-season title and entered the championships as the favorites. But injuries and bad luck led to an early exit in Vegas, and the Nashville Stampede completed its Cinderella run to the championship.
That bitter ending of last season set the tone for this year's effort.
“The ending to our first year was truly a disappointment,” said Gamblers head coach Michael Gaffney.
Gaffney, a professional bull riding Hall of Famer who famously rode the legendary Little Yellow Jacket twice in 2004, explained the origin of the “unfinished business” rallying cry.
“We won the regular season, however not holding that buckle up at the finish stung," he said. "For us, this year has been all about unfinished business. The constant reminder of what we lost motivates us and we’re determined to go win a championship.”
Ahead of this weekend’s event in Fort Worth, the Gamblers (18-7) have clinched the opening bye at the Championship in Las Vegas, which will be held Oct. 20-22, but they have not locked up the regular-season title. The Kansas City Outlaws (15-10) are the only team that can mathematically surpass Austin for the No. 1 spot. To do that, the Outlaws need to go 3-0 this weekend while Austin would have to go 0-3, so the Gamblers can clinch the regular-season championship with a single win or one Kansas City loss.
More: Austin Gamblers win their own event, claim Gambler Days title
In the MVP race, Leme leads No. 2 Cassio Dias (Kansas City) by 170.25 points and No. 3 Dalton Kasel by 444.25 points. For much of the year, Kasel has been right at the top of the standings with Leme, his teammate. But injuries have slowed him recently.
“Dalton and Jose push one another to be better,” Gaffney said. “That’s what champions do. When one falters, the other comes through. The synergistic relationship is beneficial not only to them, but also to their team and teammates.”
A rider could get on four bulls this weekend. Dias trails Leme by two ride scores while Kasel is back by five, so it's really down to Leme or Dias. Leme is not only attempting to win back-to-back MVP titles, but also will try to break his regular-season points record. Last year he amassed 1,683.25 points en route to the title. He's at 1,588 heading into this weekend, 95.25 points away from the record he set last year.
The Gamblers were a perfect 3-0 at PBR Cowboy Days in Greensboro (N.C.) last weekend to get the event title. It was the fourth event win of the season (Cheyenne, Anaheim, Austin), and they set a new PBR Team Series record for event wins in a season. With another 90-point ride last weekend in North Carolina, Leme moved into the No. 2 spot in career PBR rankings, passing J.B. Mauney (75) and trailing only Chris Shivers (94).
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin Gamblers look to wrap up PBR regular-season title with a win
