By: Con Marshall
Lisa Lockhart’s 14th trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo was like none other, but overall it was another positive chapter in her long and storied barrel racing career.
Although the Oelrichs cowgirl and her buckskin mare Rosa knocked over 10 barrels, or a third of them during the 10 go-rounds, they had enough fast performances to climb from 13th to fifth in the world standings for 2020.
They placed among the top six to earn a paycheck in half the go-rounds, or all of them when they left all of the barrels standing. Their placings, in order, were fifth, first, sixth, second and fourth. They only missed out on finishing third.
Their winnings netted Lockhart $68,962 at the NFR, staged this year at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, and boosted her total earnings for the year to $109,865, not counting $10,000 that all the NFR contestants receive.
This year’s payoff in Texas made Lockhart the all-time barrel racing money winner at the finals rodeo. It reportedly totals $1,283,000, solidifying her status as the event’s most persistent and consistent contestant since she initially qualified for the NFR in 2007.
This was the 10th time Lockhart has finished among the top five in barrel racing’s final world standings. Only Emily Miller of Eustach, Texas, who moved from 12th to fourth on the world list, equaled Lockhart’s improvement in the standings at the NFR this year.
The barrel racing champion for the third consecutive year is Hailey Kinsel of Cotulla, Texas. Riding her palomino mare Sister, they won five of the go-rounds and placed second three more times, earning them more than $260,000 at the finals, including $67,269 for winning the averages, or the fastest total time through the 10-day session.
In addition, she earned the rodeo’s Top Gun honor as the NFR’s largest money winner.
The world champion all-around cowboy was Stetson Wright, a 21-year-old native of Milford, Utah, who finished the year with $358,470 to his credit. He was the bull riding champion and also finished seventh in the saddle bronc riding, which was won by his older brother Ryder for the second time
Stetson is the youngest cowboy to ever win two world champion titles.