Dakota Buttar Rockets to Head of the Pack in The Race for the 2025 Championship with Cup Series Win in Red Deer, Alberta

AIRDRIE, Alta. – Two-time PBR Canada Champion Dakota Buttar wasted no time making an impact in 2025, winning the first Cup Series event of the season in Red Deer, Alberta.

Coming off a third-place finish in last year’s standings, the Eatonia, Saskatchewan native flipped the script, securing his first-ever win in Red Deer and launching himself to the top of the standings just three events into the season.

“It felt good to finally do good in Red Deer,” Buttar said. “I haven’t done well at the PBR in Red Deer at all. That might have been the first time I covered a bull there. It’s nice to not be playing catch-up right off the bat, getting one down and getting a nice little haul of points.”

Courtesy of the win, Buttar now leads No. 2 Jordan Hansen by 43 points early in the 2025 title race.

The 2025 PBR Canada Cup Series began in Red Deer on February 1 and concludes its regular season in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in October, leading into the Command Tubular PBR Canada National Finals, presented by Edmonton’s Best Hotels, in Edmonton, Alberta on November 14-15.

During Round 1 of competition in Red Deer, Buttar matched up against Pay Day, a Skori Bucking Bulls’ bovine athlete he had history with. After Buttar rode him for 86 points in Grande Prairie, Alberta during last September’s Cup Series Event, Pay Day bucked him in 3.92 seconds during the 2024 National Finals. Despite how their last showdown ended up, Buttar was excited to see the bull’s name beside his in the draw.

“I wasn’t too worried about it. He’s still young—just four this year. They’re allowed to have off days too,” Buttar laughed. “The first time I got on him, he was a bull everyone would have wanted. The second time, at Finals, he acted a little differently. I was happy to get him again, because if you can get him ridden, you’ll get plenty of points.”

And plenty he was—posting another 86-point ride, finishing second in Round 1 in Red Deer.

Buttar then clinched the win with the high-marked ride of the event, topping More or Less for 87 points in the championship round.

What changed for Buttar in 2025? He credits his health and hunger after finishing last season without injury.

“I finished the Finals feeling ready to go the next week,” Buttar explained. “Being hungry at the end of the year and not needing to heal up is a big difference for me. I think it showed this weekend.”

His momentum comes as his namesake event, the Energy Dodge Dakota Buttar Invitational, presented by Longhorn and Big Rack Vac, in Kindersley, Saskatchewan, announces an expansion to a two-day format, now offering a $30,000 prize purse, making it the richest Touring Pro Division event in the nation.

“I’m super excited. I don’t think any of us expected it to grow this fast, but it’s what we were shooting for,” Buttar said. “It’s just awesome to have the support to go to two days. Without sponsorship and the community behind us, we wouldn’t be able to. Kindersley loves bull riding.”

Alongside Buttar’s $30,000 event purse, PBR Canada has announced a new bonus to begin in 2025— $25,000 for the season’s MVP, the rider who accumulates the most aggregate points across all levels of Canadian events in 2025.

“I think it’s awesome they’re able to spread it out through a bunch of guys. It’s great to support the riders who are supporting the PBR back,” Buttar said. “There’s so much incentive for all of us to be going. I think it’s really cool.”

With a long season ahead, Buttar has his sights are set on one stop in particular —The Coy Robbins Invitational in Camrose this May.

“I’m looking forward to going to Coy’s event this year. I haven’t been able to make it before, and it’s consistently been the Event of the Year. I’m super excited to finally go there and be part of it.”