Carolinacowboys2024

Austin Dillon Reflects on Carolina Cowboys 2024 Season

LAS VEGAS, NV (October 24, 2024) – One eight second ride. That’s what the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Team Series Championship title came down to for the Carolina Cowboys after riding their way into the final round on Sunday, October 20, setting the stage for a head-to-head battle against the Austin Gamblers at T-Mobile Arena.

All the bull riding action kicked the dust up on Friday, October 18, but thanks to the Carolina Cowboy’s No. 2 rank in the standings heading into the weekend, the Cowboys were granted a bye and their first night was spent resting up for Saturday night’s round against the Austin Gamblers.

During their bye night, the Carolina Cowboys hosted a special industry reception on Friday evening to preview “The Last Rodeo,” a Western drama debuting in the Spring of 2025 that features Neal McDonough and the Carolina Cowboys very own, Daylon Swearingen. The Carolina Cowboys were honored to have the star power of Neal McDonough and his wife Ruve at T-Mobile Arena cheering on the Cowboys.

While the Carolina Cowboys came up two rides short on Saturday, they had one more chance to advance to the semi-finals thanks to a sudden death round where they took on the Missouri Thunder and Texas Rattlers. The Cowboys ultimately prevailed and secured the opportunity to ride on Sunday.

Although the Cowboys fell short of finishing first on Sunday by one ride, they had one of the most impressive regular seasons overall as far as PBR Teams statistics go. The Carolina Cowboys started off hot with a 10-0-1 streak and was the first team to clinch a spot at the 2024 PBR Teams Championship, courtesy of their opening night win at the Cowboy’s homestand in Greensboro when they outrode the Kansas City Outlaws.

“Our home event at the Greensboro Coliseum was a blast,” said Carolina Cowboys General Manager Austin Dillon. “We always try to add some action to the show and Cowboy nation brought an electricity to each night. I have to thank the fans for all the support. Winning our Friday night home game against a great Kansas City Outlaw team was epic. Next year, we plan on sweeping our home event.”

The Carolina Cowboys managed to stay at the top of the PBR regular-season rankings for nine weeks straight to start the season.

“The good Lord blessed us with a history-making season and kept the Cowboys all in one piece. This team finished second twice- once in the regular season and then in the finals. Yes, second sucks but it’s sports. Many other teams would have loved to have the season and the history we created,” said Dillon.

Three notable bull riders for the Cowboy’s dominance during the regular season included Daylon Swearingen, Cooper Davis and Sage Kimzey. Out of 86 bull riders in total, Davis, Kimzey and Swearingen placed in the top 20 overall for the 2024 season MVP standings. In Las Vegas, Cooper Davis came up short by a mere 1.5 points to clinch the Championship MVP, but still managed to clinch a podium position in third place.

“Having a fresh Cooper Davis to start the season was awesome. He lived up to his Captain America nickname all year long, leading us off and never missing a game, putting on one of the most impressive PBR Teams finals going four for four. The burden of leading off is a tall task and Cooper shouldered it all season long,” said Dillon.

While the end results weren’t what the Cowboys hoped for, the team stood tall following the loss and stayed positive with the small wins, such as Davis riding an impressive four for four.

The support for the Carolina Cowboys at the PBR Teams Championship was impeccable thanks to NASCAR’s schedule which allowed for both Richard Childress and Dillon to attend many of the games. Carolina Cowboys co-owners Jeff and Tammie Broin were also in attendance, along with a large contingent of RCR crew members and drivers from both the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series, including Dillon’s very own No. 3 Chevrolet road crew team.

“It was cool to see the other side of things. I know Austin is very involved in it and we don’t always get to go and see everything he is involved in… I’ve been to bull riding events and rodeos, but I’ve never been to the team thing so that was a new aspect… It would be awesome if it lined up like this again with our schedules,” said Matthew Beaver, engine tuner on the No. 3 Chevrolet.

The Carolina Cowboys posted the following to Facebook Sunday evening:

“Proud of the journey. We had one heck of a season. We fought through adversity together, we won together, we prayed together, we worked out together, we stayed together, we made goals together, and TOGETHER, we never gave up no matter what the circumstance was. Thank you Lord, for the incredible season.

A huge thank you goes out to all of our supporters as we could not do it without you!

Congratulations, @austin_gamblers, well deserved!”

While they say, ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,’ these Cowboys would beg to differ. What happened in Vegas for them only adds fuel to the fire as these bull riders prepare to reset their focus on what’s to come next: the 2025 regular-season championship and PBR Teams Championship.

“The Cowboys will be back and with a vengeance in 2025,” said Dillon.

Tickets for the 2025 season are on sale now and can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com and PBR.com. The Carolina Cowboys will host their homestand at the Greensboro Coliseum again next year on September 12-14, 2025. For the full PBR Teams schedule, please click here.