Proctor picks up another big win

Shane Proctor, the 2011 PRCA bull riding champion from Grand Coulee, picked up his second big win in two weeks, getting hot just as the rodeo season warms up.

Proctor, who now lives in North Carolina, won the Old Fort Smith (Ark.) Days Rodeo and $4,046 over the weekend, scoring 88 on Radical Roller. That is the highest score ever on the Silver Creek Pro Rodeo bull that bucks off two of every three riders.

Two weeks earlier Proctor had a 93-point ride at the Redding (Calif.) Rodeo, tying the highest score of the season. The $4,503 he earned on Touch of Class helped push Proctor into the top 20. He is sitting 17th with more than $21,000. He is less than a thousand dollars shy of moving into the top 15 to qualify for his third straight National Finals Rodeo.

With more than $7,000 won riding saddle broncs, Proctor is fifth in the all-around chase with $28,248.

Tie-down roper Tyson Durfey, who calls Colbert home, won his event at Fort Smith. The $3,766 helped propel him to fourth in the world standings with more than $31,000, just a year after his streak of five-straight NFR appearances was snapped. It was Durfey’s third win of the season.

Cheney bareback rider Ryan Gray, who had his seven-year NFR run end last year, is also in the top 10. With $24,787, Gray is sitting ninth. He has won four rodeos this year, most recently the Maah Daah Hey Stampede in Grassy Butte, N.D., 10 days ago.

Dave Trimmer