Of the 143 rides last weekend at Mandalay Bay Events Center, cowboys 81 times had to spit dirt after failing to complete eight-second rides, and it might be the same tonight when the event shifts to the Thomas & Mack Center for the final four performances.

But it should be another fun night from the bulls' perspective.

Only 42 of 143 rides were completed in three days at Mandalay Bay, and rodeo athletes will be greeted tonight by the same bulls from the "rank pen," which refers to the most violent bulls on the circuit, that bucked off 36 of 48 on Saturday. After getting a night off, the circuit's most feared bulls will return Saturday.

"Forty of the 49 bulls out (Saturday) performed up to expectation or better," said Cody Lambert, the PBR director of livestock.

Cowboys are competing for the season title worth a $1 million bonus, and the World Finals winner gets $225,000.

Stock contractors also have a prize awaiting after Sunday's final performance. The top 45 riders selected the five best bulls, and $20,000 will be awarded to the owner of whichever in that group accumulates the most points in the Finals.

Selecting the year's riding champion, however, isn't as simple.

Former UNLV rodeo athlete and 2005 PBR champion Justin McBride of Elk City, Okla., earned 11,505.25 points in the 29-event regular season, a substantial 1,252 lead over J.B. Mauney of Mooresville, N.C.

But beginning in 2004, the PBR restructured its points system, putting greater emphasis on performances in Las Vegas to ensure its annual champion would not be determined before the Finals.

McBride has been hot all season. He completed 63 percent of his rides leading to a single-season record of eight titles en route to earning a record of $687,175, which includes a $200,000 bonus he received for completing a bounty ride on Oct. 13 in Columbus, Ohio.

That was about two months after he separated the shoulder of his free arm during an event in Mexico City.

McBride arrived in Las Vegas fighting viral meningitis and a pinched neck nerve. He is 0-for-3 so far in the Finals.

After three rounds, the favorites to win the championship seem to be Brazilian Guilherme Marchi or Mauney.

Marchi has 263.25 points and sits in second place in the average, which will pay that winner 2,500 points. Mauney is fifth with 176.

Kody Lostroh of Longmont, Colo., is too far behind to challenge for the season title, but as the only cowboy to have completed all three rides, he leads the Finals event standings.

"I'm not up for a world title this year, so I can come in and take everybody's money," he said.

Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@ reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0247.