Professional bull rider Marcus Mast is bringing his championship mindset back to South Texas as the 2026 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour finals arrive at the Hilliard Center this weekend. The Indiana cowboy, who captured the 2025 Velocity Tour Championship, will compete for back-to-back titles when the action kicks off Friday, May 1, and continues Saturday, May 2, with both performances starting at 7 p.m.
Mast’s journey to the top of professional bull riding has been anything but conventional. Growing up on an Amish farm in the Midwest, his love for the sport was sparked by early exposure to livestock. After more than a decade of grinding on the professional circuit, trying to make it to and stay on the elite Unleash The Beast tour, Mast finally qualified for the World Finals in 2020.
The turning point came in 2022 when Mast joined the Kansas City Outlaws for the inaugural PBR Teams season. Taking advice from Coach J.W. Hart to heart, he transformed his body by losing 23 pounds, becoming a leaner, more focused competitor. The transformation paid dividends as Mast led his team in qualified rides with a 51.6% success rate (16-for-31), becoming the Outlaws’ go-to rider and finishing third in the Teams league MVP race despite being ranked No. 131 at the end of the 2022 Unleash The Beast season…