RAPID CITY, S.D. --- Talk about an underdog. Clay Hindman wasn’t even supposed to compete at the Xtreme Bulls event in Rapid City, held in conjunction with the Black Hills Stock Show Rodeo.

He was admittedly "way down" on the list of qualifiers, but it so happened that the PRCA called him this week to see if he wanted to fill in for someone. So the South Dakota bull rider pinned his back number on with pro bull riding stars such as Steve Woolsey, Kanin Asay and Bobby Welsh – and promptly took their money.

The 27-year-old from Belvidere (just 100 miles from Rapid City) won the first round with a whopping 89-point ride before scoring 78 points in Round Two to lead the top 12 into the short round. There, he watched his traveling partner Cole Hermanson make a great ride, which fired him up to get on Dakota Rodeo Company’s black and white horned bull, The Breeze.

The Breeze had combined with Jarrod Ford for 85 points in the second round, and Hindman was prepared for the fast, flat spin and change of direction the bull offered. His 86-point score spurred a roar from the local crowd and made Hindman the average champion by nearly 10 points over Jarrod Ford, who’d posted 82 points on Dakota’s bull Slim Biscuits. The win netted Hindman a cool $6,995.

"I’d seen Jarrod ride him and thought he was really good," Hindman said. "I was just wondering if he was going to turn back or not." Hindman said he felt no pressure at all, despite the good earlier ride by Ford and the hopeful eyes of all his friends and family. "Two years ago, Cole and I both rode all our bulls at the Badlands Circuit Finals," Hindman said. "He rode tonight, so I had to."

Hindman started getting on bucking bulls at 12 years of age and works as a carpenter, along with doing some ranch work, in his spare time. He’s hoping to make his own debut at the Wrangler NFR in 2010, and will try to make more strides toward that goal Friday, when he’s up at the Black Hills Stock Show Rodeo.

Rapid City was the second stop on this year’s 10-event PRCA Seminole Hard Rock Xtreme Bulls Tour, which offers a combined purse of $530,000 that counts toward the PRCA world standings and qualification to the 2010 Wrangler NFR. The tour finale is scheduled for Sept. 4 in Ellensburg, Wash.