Dakota Buttar, Coy Robbins Steam Roll Towards 2024 PBR Canada National Finals

AIRDRIE, Alta. – There is no one currently hotter among the PBR Canada ranks than Dakota Buttar and Coy Robbins.

With both early leader Cody Coverchuk and current No. 1 Nick Tetz both sitting out a couple weeks with injury, the field is tightening behind them.

Winning in Stavely and Sunnybrook, Alberta two weeks ago, Robbins finished fourth in Armstrong, BC at the tier-one event that Buttar won. That momentum rolled forward with Robbins winning the Energy Dodge Dakota Buttar Invitational in Kindersley, Saskatchewan last week, and the Clunie-Cooper Memorial PBR, presented by Riverside Dodge, just a few days later in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

The wins catapulted 2017 PBR Canada Rookie of the Year Robbins from No. 14 to No. 4 in the standings as he put the season leaders on notice.

For Buttar, his win in Armstrong propelled him from No. 14 to then No. 5 as he attempts to become the first-ever back-to-back Canadian Champion in history.

The reigning champion was reminded that the season isn’t over until that last bull bucks.

“I am still a ways off from first,” Buttar said. “But getting up there in points leaves that window open for a slight chance to squeak in there. A guy can have a good October now, with all our Cup events keeping you in there.” 

“It excites a guy to know you have an outside chance. I am going to make the most of October and see if I can get in a spot to contend come November.”

Armstrong’s event was made more special as Buttar, who won Round 1 of competition, picked Nansen Vold’s Hard Not To Get, who nearly cost the rider a Calgary Stampede Championship two years ago bucking him off in the first championship round.

“Hard Not To Get is at the point in his career where everyone wants to get on,” Buttar explained. “He kicks hard, sets you up nice and you should be a good bunch of points on him. It’s always exciting to get on those bulls you don’t get on every day. It was nice to get redemption on him a couple years later after he bucked me off in Calgary.”

This past weekend was a milestone for Buttar. The first-ever Energy Dodge Dakota Buttar Invitational was held in his hometown of Kindersley, Saskatchewan. A brainchild of PBR Canada Cup Series staff Peter Gebraad and Tiffany Beaton, alongside Buttar and his wife Caitlin, the event was a more than 10-year return to competition for the rider inside his hometown.

“It means a lot. Our careers in bull riding aren’t that long, and I haven’t ridden a bull in Kindersley in 12 years, so that is a big chunk of a guy's career. It’s pretty exciting to be able to come back and ride at home in front of my friends and family,” Buttar said.

“It’s a different kind of excitement that you don't get going to other events. It’s a comforting, relaxing kind of excitement. I get to be in front of my own hometown crowd.”

Buttar was shutout, but spent the rest of the night helping on all the riders who entered, and supporting those who helped build the event.

“We wouldn’t be able to do it without all the sponsors. They stepped up and made this happen for us in a short amount of time. The support in this town has been so cool. Everyone is excited for the event. It makes all of us more excited,” Buttar said.

“I have to make sure to thank Peter, Tiffany, Caitlin and all those who came to volunteer to make this event a success. This event may carry my name on it, but it is those select groups of friends and family who made this such a great event. It was a very special couple of days for me, and it doesn't happen without them."