Yee-haw! It’s rodeo time in Portland with PBR’s Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour

Published 12:15 am Saturday, December 28, 2024

The stars of the Professional Bull Riders are coming back to Portland, competing in the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour event, Friday and Saturday, Jan. 3-4 at Moda Center.

And, there’ll be Shane Scott of Molalla, going for eight seconds and prize money alongside some of the best bull riders in the country.

“This is like my hometown,” said Scott, 18. “Everybody’s going to be there — probably about 20 people (relatives, friends). I’m excited.”

It’s only Scott’s second season of competing, and he hopes to do well in Portland and go on to participate in Unleash The Beast Series events and then to world finals. He won an event in Eugene in 2024, and rode in Unleash The Beast events and world finals. It was a decent first year, but it could have been better, he said.

“I turned 18 in March and lallygagged, didn’t know what I was doing,” said Scott, who was born in The Dalles and lived in many places. “For the little time in it, I did well in my rookie year.”

The Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour has expanded to two nights in Portland, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 3-4 at Moda Center (pbr.com, ticketmaster.com). In last year’s event, January 2024, Dawson Branton of Jefferson, Oregon won the title in front of his home state crowd.

There’ll be 40 bull riders competing. Riders like Branton from around the world will attempt to win the 2025 event in hopes of climbing the world standings. Who stays on for eight seconds and impresses?

It’s quite an existence, going to such events and trying to win money. Scott wants to make it a career, and admits to some pressure to perform, but “I try not to worry about that. I enjoy it, it’s not a dread for me. I try to forget about the money and have fun.”

He grew up around rodeo; his father rode bulls.

“I like it, because it’s so challenging,” Scott said.

He has competed in some amateur rodeos in the Portland area, and participated in the St. Paul Rodeo in July 2024 in bull riding and bronc riding.

Scott enjoys being part of the rodeo circles. He wants to represent rodeo cowboys well. “I just try to make sure I’m professional and not making them (cowboys) look bad,” he said.

It’s a sport in which the bulls are considered athletes in the events — they even have stats for bulls on the series website. As far as relationships with other (human) competitors, Scott added:

“The way I look at it, it’s not really about who you’re competing against, it’s you and the bull I’m getting on,” he said. “I know it’s dangerous, I’m not going to go out there to beat somebody, I’m trying to do the best for me.”