Justin Travis McBride (born August 7, 1979) is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding.
[1] After retiring from bull riding, McBride was a full-time color commentator for the PBR's Premier Series telecasts from 2009 through 2024.
[2][3] Justin McBride was born and lived in Belton, Texas, until he later moved to Mullen, Nebraska, with his parents and older brother.
His father worked on a ranch and rode bulls; his maternal grandfather was killed in a bull-riding event the year before McBride was born.
His biggest successes of that year came when he won the Mossy Oak Shootout twice - once in Greensboro, North Carolina, for $15,000, and again in Houston, Texas, for $30,000.
In 2001, McBride stepped up his game and won five events that year, putting himself into a three-man race for the PBR world championship title against Adriano Moraes and Ty Murray.
In 2002, McBride did not get to match the success he had in 2001, but he still won the BLC event in Nashville, Tennessee, and finished fifth in the world overall that year.
He put himself into a tight two-man race between himself and Chris Shivers for the world title that year, winning two Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) events in the process (Anaheim, California, and St. Louis, Missouri).
McBride was in the lead for the world title going into the Built Ford Tough Series event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but unfortunately, disaster struck.
This time, in that event's Mossy Oak Shootout, the bull named Lefty stepped on his right ankle as he was bucked off, breaking it.
In the middle of the year, McBride found himself in a heated race for the PBR world title with Brazilian rider Guilherme Marchi.
He was also named the Alphatrade National Champion of 2007 and successfully rode the bull, Scene of the Crash, for $200,000 at the BFTS event in Columbus, Ohio, making it the richest ride in PBR history.
McBride came back to the BFTS at the 2008 Dickies American Worker of the Year Invitational in Dallas, Texas, and finishing seventh overall at the event.
A few events later, McBride achieved another milestone, breaking the $5 million mark in PBR career earnings; the first rider to ever do so.
However, shortly before the Finals, having qualified 15th in the standings, McBride announced that he would retire at the end of the season to concentrate on his second career in country music, saying, "I don't wanna do it anymore.
"[1] He put on a show at the 2008 PBR World Finals, riding five out of eight bulls (including two go-round wins) to finish sixth overall at the event.
In 2014, at a special event known as RFD-TV's The American, which was held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, he faced off against NFL defensive end Jared Allen's bull, Air Time, in a bonus ride, but was bucked off in less than two seconds.
It runs from the summer to autumn and concludes with the Team Series Championship at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
[14] The Nashville Stampede, along with the New York Mavericks moved on to the Championship event, defeating the Arizona Ridge Riders and Oklahoma Wildcatters.
[16] In January 2025, the Nashville Stampede defeated the Carolina Cowboys to win the PBR Monster Energy Team Challenge presented by Camping World at the Unleash the Beast Series (UTB) event in Chicago, Illinois.