We highlight five showstoppers from the 2024 Indian National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.
At the South Point Arena in Las Vegas, 11 world titles were awarded on Saturday night, October 26, following the final round of the 48th Annual Indian National Finals Rodeo (INFR). Each champion put on a heck of a show, but there were five showstoppers in particular that we noticed during the prestigious, culture-celebrating annual rodeo spectacular.
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Quinley and Quinton Inman
This is an easy one. The overwhelming crowd favorite during the 2024 INFR was 9-year-old Quinley Inman, a barrel racer from Vinita, Oklahoma. Makes sense. She won both the overall Barrel Racing and the Junior Barrel Racing world titles.
Whenever she made an appearance, the crowd was at its loudest, including during the post-round buckle ceremony at the South Point Showroom hosted by Kyle Tom and Luke Branquinho. It was well past her bedtime by the time Inman hit the stage at about midnight to accept her buckle from Autumn Sells, Miss Indian Rodeo.
Then she revealed the secret—in true 9-year-old style—about how she and her horse, Socks Abunch, prepared.
“She loves peppermint, Pop Tarts, and sweet tea,” Inman told Branquinho as the crowd roared in approval.
But let’s get serious: Inman is a prodigy and is following in the footsteps of her father, Quinton, as an Indian National Finals Rodeo World Champion. Quinton won his 3rd Tie-Down Roping title.
“We could imagine Quinley winning this because she is that good, but we didn't have any expectations coming into the INFR,” the father said of his daughter. “But after she won the first round, it just kept getting better and better.”
Jackson Ford
When Kyle Tom, the INFR in-arena announcer, introduced 2024 World Saddle Bronc Champion Jackson Ford at the buckle ceremony on Saturday night, he suggested that the name of the trophy should be changed to the “Jackson Ford Award” because Ford was that dominant. Ford, from Sturgis, South Dakota, won each of his go-rounds, an accomplishment that experts believe was done for the first time in INFR history.
“This is great, but I have to give all the glory to God,” Ford said. “I remembered Matthew 21 and 22 scriptures today, which basically say, ‘If you pray for anything and have faith, you receive it.’ I believed the whole week.”
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Jacob Lees and Jayco Roper
In Bareback Riding, two good friends put on a show all week and battled it out to first and second in the world standings. Jacob Lees, 19, clinched the INFR buckle with a final-round 86, but his mind was on his buddy Jayco.
“Winning the INFR is a totally different experience for me and I'm blessed to be here, but every time I get on and compete, I want my buddies to do well and I want them to win just as badly as I want to win,” Lees said.
Both Lees, from Boyd, Texas, and Roper, from Oktaha, Oklahoma, qualified for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in 2023. Lees finished 11th in the PRCA World Standings in 2023, one spot ahead of Roper.
Lees is 10th in the 2024 PRCA standings and will return to Las Vegas in December for the NFR at the Thomas & Mack Center that is located minutes from the South Point.
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The Big Scorers
The 2024 INFR World Champions were:
Quinley Inman, Barrel Racing
Jacob Lees, Bareback Riding
Nolan Conway, Steer Wrestling
Baily Bates, Ladies Breakaway
Jackson Ford, Bareback Riding
Quinton Inman, Team Roping
Erich Rogers and Aaron Tsinigine, Tie-Down Roping
Teigan Gray, Bull Riding
Nolan Conway, Men’s All-Around
Jareth Curley, Ladies All-Around
Brian Hurlburt has covered the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas for more than a decade, creating NFR Rewind and NFR BLVD publications in addition to interviewing PRCA world champions each year.
(Featured photo courtesy INFR/Clay Guardipee)
