SALGADO BROTHERS LEAD THE CAROLINA COWBOYS CHARGE WITH FIVE COMBINED RIDES
Cowboys Defeat Home Team Florida Freedom and Oklahoma Wildcatters, Rising to Fourth In PBR Teams Standings
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Carolina Cowboys (5-3) moved up a spot in the 2026 PBR Teams standings after a 2-1 weekend at Freedom Days presented by Breedlove Wound Care at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. Heading toward Nashville this weekend (Aug. 14-16), the 2025 Champions are fourth in the standings.
Thiago Salgado (Naviraí, Brazil) leads the way for the Cowboys in the PBR Teams MVP Race with 444.15 points, 88.45 points out of the top spot. Salgado has covered five of eight bulls (62.5%) this season. He went 2-for-3 in Florida, marking his fifth ride in his last six outs.
His brother, Adriano Salgado (Batatais, São Paulo, Brazil), went a perfect 3-for-3 on the weekend with each ride worth over 87.55 points.
Carolina went 8-for-15 while in Sunrise for Freedom Days as the Salgados earned five of those qualified rides.
Sunday afternoon, the defending Teams Champion Cowboys rode three bulls to spoil the Florida Freedom’s (5-3) chance at a perfect weekend at home, taking down Florida 263.85-89.5. Thiago Salgado earned 88.35 points on Bullistic while Adriano Salgado later earned an additional 87.55 points on Louisville Slugger. On a re-ride opportunity, Guilherme Valleiras (Pirassununga, São Paulo, Brazil) scored 87.95 points on Washita Red for Carolina. In their final out, Florida’s Bruno Carvalho (Alvares Florence, São Paulo, Brazil) earned the lone ride in the game for his squad worth 89.5 points on Husky.
On Saturday, Carolina defeated the Oklahoma Wildcatters (3-5) 261.95-175.45. Oklahoma took an early lead with an 88.5-point ride by Trace Redd (Malad, Idaho) on Diamond Back, but three consecutive Carolina rides would put the game out of reach. Valleiras led the three-ride streak with 84.95 points aboard Organized Chaos. Keyshawn Whitehorse (McCracken Spring, Utah) was next with 88.95 points on Hoobastank – his first ride score for the team. Adriano Salgado then bested Hay Train for 88.05 points. The Wildcatters’ Kase Hitt (Dickson, Okla.) recorded an 86.95-point ride on XIT Socks In A Box in the loss.
Friday night was the only loss of the weekend for the Cowboys in a rematch of the 2025 PBR Teams Championship Semifinals when the Arizona Ridge Riders (5-3) defeated Carolina 269.55-178.75 in Sunrise. Carolina was able to mount a pair of rides from the Salgado brothers. Thiago rode Cowboy Playboy for 89.35 points while Adriano bested Show Biz for 89.4 points.
The Cowboys return to action at Stampede Days at Bridgestone Arena Aug. 14-16 in Nashville, Tenn., where they will face the Missouri Thunder (3-5, Aug. 14), Nashville Stampede (7-1, Aug. 15) and Oklahoma Wildcatters (3-5, Aug. 16).
The Cowboys will host their annual homestand, PBR Cowboy Days, on Sept. 18-20 at First Horizon Coliseum.
The bull riding action for the 2026 PBR Team Series’ Cowboy Days at First Horizon Coliseum begins at 7:45 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 18, 6:45 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 19, and 1:45 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 20.
For more information on Carolina Cowboys, and for updates on the upcoming PBR Cowboy Days, visit https://pbr.com/teams/carolina-cowboys, Carolina Cowboys on Facebook, @carolinacowboyspbr on Instagram, or @CARCowboysPBR on Twitter. Go behind the scenes for the Carolina Cowboys’ championship season with exclusive long form video content on the Carolina Cowboys’ YouTube channel @CarolinaCowboys.
About the Carolina Cowboys:
The Carolina Cowboys, 2025 PBR Teams Champions, are based at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C., where the team will hold its fifth Cowboy Days homestand Sept. 18-20, 2026. The Cowboys are coached by PBR co-founder Jerome Davis and assistant coach Robson Palermo, a three-time PBR Teams Series World Champion. Under the leadership of General Manager Austin Dillon, the 2018 Daytona 500 Champion, the team is owned by 2017 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Richard Childress and prominent entrepreneurs and agriculturalists Jeff and Tammie Broin. From a one-man team in 1969, Richard Childress grew Richard Childress Racing (RCR) into one of the most-respected organizations in NASCAR, with nearly 400 team members supporting full-time operations in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. As a car owner, Childress has earned more than 200 victories in NASCAR’s top three national series, 17 championships, three Daytona 500 championships and three Brickyard 400 championships. Away from the track, Childress is a businessman, philanthropist and conservationist – he loves wine, the outdoors, supporting the military, and investing in America’s youth. Childress’ properties include the award-winning Childress Vineyards. He sits on the board of directors of Growth Energy and holds an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Northwestern Ohio. Entrepreneur and agriculturalist Broin is the founder and CEO of bioprocessing giant POET, the world’s largest biofuel producer. Broin and RCR have a longstanding partnership through NASCAR and worked together to upgrade the league to 15% bioethanol.
About PBR Teams:
PBR Teams is an elite league featuring the world’s top bull riders competing on teams in five-on-five games leading to a Team Championship at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. During the 2026 season, the league’s fifth, each of the 10 teams – Arizona Ridge Riders of Glendale, AZ; Austin Gamblers of Austin, TX; Carolina Cowboys of Greensboro, NC; Florida Freedom of Sunrise, FL; Kansas City Outlaws of Kansas City, MO; Nashville Stampede of Nashville, TN; New York Mavericks of Belmont Park, NY; Oklahoma Wildcatters of Oklahoma City, OK; Missouri Thunder of Ridgedale, MO; and Texas Rattlers of Fort Worth, TX – will host a three-day homestand. Neutral-site games in Anaheim, CA and Fort Collins, CO are part of the 2026 season as well.
PBR Teams, launched in July 2022, builds on the existing structure of professional bull riding with the same basic rules for judging and scoring qualified 8-second bull rides. In events staged in a tournament-style format, all teams compete in head-to-head matchups against a different opponent each day. Each game features five riders per team squaring off against another team. Full team rosters are comprised of seven riders on the Protected Roster and three Reserve Roster riders. The team with the highest aggregate score of qualified rides among its riders is declared the winner of each game.
PBR is part of TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO), a global sports and entertainment company. For more information, visit PBR.com, or follow on Facebook at Facebook.com/PBR, Twitter at Twitter.com/PBR, and YouTube at YouTube.com/PBR.
Courtesy of Taylor Riemersma
Manager, Public Relations, PBR