Hayden Welsh’s career-best 91.35-point ride lifts Kansas City past Carolina as Nashville secures the final first-round bye at the PBR Teams Championship.

Nashville grabs the final first-round bye after Kansas City closes the regular season with a hometown victory over Carolina

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Pull those hats down tight, bull riding fans. Hayden Welsh saved a career-best ride for a moment that mattered, and the Kansas City Outlaws sent the Carolina Cowboys into the postseason with plenty to think about.

The 21-year-old from Gillette, Wyoming, matched Humdinger jump for jump for 91.35 points on Sunday, October 25, delivering the winning score as Kansas City edged Carolina 180.15–176.00 in the final game of the 2026 PBR Teams regular season.

That eight-second effort did more than put a hometown win on the board at Outlaw Days. It helped the Nashville Stampede claim the No. 3 seed and the final first-round bye at the PBR Teams Championship.

Kansas City got the victory. Nashville got the opening-round break. Carolina got a tougher road ahead.

The Cowboys had put the pressure on early. Thiago Salgado covered Snoop Dog for 88.55 points, and Clay Guiton added 87.45 aboard Mildred’s Revenge to give Carolina two qualified rides.

Eric Henrique Domingos answered for the Outlaws with 88.80 points on Full Mercy. Then Welsh climbed aboard Humdinger with a chance to turn the game.

He did exactly that.

His career-high score pushed Kansas City ahead by 4.15 points, and the lead held. The Outlaws finished their homestand 2–1 and closed the regular season with 10 wins in their final 15 games.

“Yes Ma’am, the Grizzly Bear’s back,” Welsh said during the CW broadcast.

Kansas City heads toward the championship as the No. 6 seed with a 16–19 record.

Nashville had already done its part earlier Sunday, knocking off the league-leading Missouri Thunder 262.10–177.70.

Missouri came out swinging, with Paulo Eduardo Rossetto scoring 89.10 points on Ugly This and Ramon Fiorini adding 88.60 aboard Live Bait.

But the Stampede answered with three qualified rides. Gustavo Luiz da Silva supplied 87.70 points on Scruggs, while Rogério Venâncio delivered 89.25 aboard All In.

Nashville’s victory, followed by Carolina’s loss, left both clubs at 19–16. The Stampede claimed third place through the aggregate-score tiebreaker, joining the No. 1 Thunder and No. 2 Austin Gamblers in earning first-round byes.

For Nashville, that is a valuable reward heading into a championship where every ride can change a team’s season.

Austin also finished with a flourish, taking the Texas showdown 177.70–87.50 over the Texas Rattlers and winning the Land.com Texas Cup.

Andrew Alvidrez opened with a personal season-best 88.70 points aboard Swisher. Vinicius Pinheiro Correa followed with 89.00 on Iceman.

Qynn Andersen gave the Rattlers their lone qualified ride, scoring 87.50 points on Political Cowboy. Austin finished the weekend unbeaten at 3–0, wrapping up a 22–13 regular season.

The Oklahoma Wildcatters supplied another upset, covering three bulls to beat the New York Mavericks 265.25–176.60.

Eduardo Matos led Oklahoma with 89.30 points on King Cobra. Winy dos Santos added 88.55 aboard Baylor’s Bandit, and Natanael Serra contributed 87.40 on Show Me Dollars.

The Wildcatters finished tenth, but they still have a chance to ride their way into the championship field.

Arizona also found some late-season traction, beating the Florida Freedom 242.75–88.35.

Eduardo Aparecido scored 87.45 points on Hermes, Vitor Manoel Dias added 77.55 on Hale’s Bells, and Vitor Losnake posted 77.75 aboard Trouble Shooter. Luciano De Castro supplied Florida’s lone qualified ride, an 88.35-point effort on Super Trooper that extended his streak to six consecutive conversions.

Sunday’s final scorecard:

The regular-season finish also brought some impressive individual honours.

Jose Vitor Leme did not compete Sunday, but his work was already in the books: a PBR Teams record 29 qualified ridesand the league’s Great 8 Award for a leading riding percentage of 87.88 per cent.

Texas Rattlers rider Jean Carlos Teodoro earned 2026 PBR Teams Rookie of the Year honours.

Carolina’s Jess Lockwood, a two-time PBR World Champion, finished with the season’s highest-scored ride: 93.90 points aboard Lights Out at Rattler Days in Fort Worth.

And the bulls had their say, too. Buck Nasty took top bull honours in Kansas City with 45.85 points, earned during a 1.62-second buckoff of Domingos on Friday.

The final regular-season standings:

Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma will compete in the Ride-In Game for the eighth and final championship berth.

Next stop: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, November 6–8, for the 2026 PBR Teams Championship.

The regular-season standings are settled. Now it is time to see who can deliver when the championship is on the line.