Mike Lee, "The King of Summer"

PBR stats show Mike Lee, for the second year in a row, dominated the summer bull riding events. Read PBR's article that dubbed him, "The King of Summer".
Winners of the 2015 BFTS Summer Break

He started the summer off with a win at the PBR Blue Def Velocity event in Decatur, TX, May 30th and a Touring Pro Division event in Odessa, TX  June 13th. In between those events he taught at the annual Lane Frost Memorial Christian Bull Riding and Bull Fighting School where the only stats that matter are the number of people that have their lives changed while attending and even if it is just one, that is enough. As usual, God showed up and numerous lives were changed forever. Eternal statistics. 

A few stats from the 2015 PBR bull riding season:

• Win PBR 15/15 Championship win BFTS Nampa, ID
• 92 pt ride on Percolator
• Win PBR BFTS Sioux Falls, SD
• Win PBR TPD Calgary, Alberta Canada
• 4th place PBR BFTS New York, NY
• 6th place PBR BFTS Baltimore, MD
• 7 top 10 finishes in PBR TPD and BDVT events over the summer and three 90 point rides -
• Wipeout - 91 pts
• Joe the Grinder - 90.5 pts
• Modified Clyde - 90 pts

• Win PBR BlueDEF Velocity Tour Decatur, TX 2 for 2 - Rough 'Em Up Tuck 87.25 points
• Win PBR TPD Odessa, TX  - Scooter 87 pts
• 4/5 place PBR BDVT Bismark, ND
• 4th place PBR BDVT Uvalde, TX
• 2nd place PBR TPD Clovis, CA
• 3rd place PBR TPD Hico, TX
• 2nd place PBR TPD Binford, ND
• 6th place PBR TPD Calgary, AB
• 2nd & 3rd place PBR TPD Thief River Falls, MN

Find Mike Lee competing at the following events:

Sept 4-5 Thackerville, OK Winstar World Casino and Resort Invitational

Sept 11-13 Springfield, MO PFI Invitational

Sept 18-19 Charlotte, NC Express Employment Professionals Invitational

Sept 25-26 Allentown, PA Allentown Invitational

Oct 2-3 Tucson, AZ Cooper Tires Take the Money and Ride

Oct 21-25 Las Vegas, NV 2015 Built Ford Tough World Finals

For a detailed schedule, go to http://www.pbr.com/en/bfts/schedule.aspx

1Ti 1:17  Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 

Mike Lee Takes Laughlin and Social Media

.@MikeLeePBR is your winner at #PBRNEVADA.
— PBR (@PBR) September 21, 2014

New leader: @MikeLeePBR takes his lap around the arena after scoring 87.25 points on Meat Hook at #PBRNEVADA.
— PBR (@PBR) September 21, 2014

Post by PBR.

Still can't believe he let me win last night #glorytogod @pbr @pbr_now @WranglerWestern @tappedoff4life feels great when you ride your bulls
— Mike Lee (@MikeLeePBR) September 21, 2014

WINNING RIDE: @MikeLeePBR covers Meat Hook for 87.25 points to earn the victory at #PBRNEVADA. http://t.co/4yHNCLS8Qv.
— PBR (@PBR) September 23, 2014

.@MikeLeePBR puts together an 80-point ride on Doctor Wishes to move into third overall with 166.5 points at #PBRNEVADA.
— PBR (@PBR) September 21, 2014

Post by PBR.

Retweet to congratulate @MikeLeePBR on his victory at #PBRNEVADA! pic.twitter.com/QoKA41gOim
— PBR (@PBR) September 22, 2014

Post by PBR.

A big thanks to the @PBR bull fighters that sand was deep this weekend and keeping us safe in it wasn't easy. Thanks frank shorty and Jesse
— Mike Lee (@MikeLeePBR) September 21, 2014

FINAL RESULTS #PBRNEVADA @pbr @MikeLeePBR 253.75 @TannerByrne 240.75 @triplett_matt 173.75 Neil Holmes 171.25 @StetsonLawrence 170.25
— pbr_now (@pbr_now) September 21, 2014

Post by PBR.

RECAP: @MikeLeePBR wins #PBRNEVADA and moves up to No. 3 in the world standings. MORE: http://t.co/62KEduvZzu. pic.twitter.com/XT7IKFVpwz
— PBR (@PBR) September 21, 2014

Hopped on @120Sports yesterday to chat @MikeLeePBR's victory at #PBRLAUGHLIN and what it means for title race. http://t.co/c0rj9GR3nh.
— Justin Felisko (@jfelisko) September 23, 2014

Mike Lee Wins Laughlin, Closes Gap on World Lead - by Denise M. Abbott
Tight Race Atop World Standings - by Justin Felisko


Post by Hanna Smith

Through the Summer with Mike Lee and Family

Fun traveling on the road!

This summer run was a lot of fun. My family got to come with me a great deal and I got back to just me and my family and riding bulls. It seems to help me ride better when it’s nothing else other than just me and the love of bull riding. Then everything else just disappears.

I put on two bull riding schools this summer one in Lane, OK and one in Mission, SD. The one in Lane OK called the Lane Frost Memorial Bull Riding School. I have been doing it for several years now and this year was a good year. Plenty of kids and several that were really motivated to ride and learn. We all went running up and down the gravel roads in the Oklahoma hills and a few of the kids even beat me back to the arena. It was a great few days and I got to see a lot of talent in these students. I hope the school had an impact on them because I push them hard and make them think outside of the box and push them out of their comfort zones. And not just an impact in bull riding but in other parts of their lives too.

Putting up tepees with the Lakota Tribe

The school in Mission South Dakota was for the Lakota Tribe there. It was a lot of fun getting to learn about their culture and the family that put on the school. It’s really pretty country there with great people who took care of me and my family like they were their own. We got to work a lot on the horses, more than I normally do, because of their natural ability to ride a horse. And believe it or not if you can ride a horse trotting around bareback in a round pen with no hands for 8 seconds then you can probably ride a bull.

Lancaster, CA event.
Mike won it and got 2nd and 3rd place
riding all six of his bulls.

I got on a lot of bulls this summer. Decatur was good event and California was really fun. I got to get on Bushwacker and he felt really good and really fun. In the past he hadn’t felt that good because I was out of time, but it seems to be easier to believe it’s possible now. God is helping me believe that things are possible. Not because I deserve them but because I trust and have faith in his plan for me. It seems to be that sometimes you quit trying to hold onto everything, you just let it go, and trust in your instincts and live bull by bull and day by day and there seems to be more freedom in that and more fun.

Mike Lee and Brendan Clark
with their sons at the
Salinas, CA PBR event.

This summer I pushed myself to the limits by entering several times at each event. This might not be for anyone else but it really helps me. When I get exhausted and I don’t have anything else left in my tank is when I find out who I really am. Things slow down and I feel alive.

Calgary Stampede Down Time

I got to spend time with my son Peter who is 7 months old and just kind of getting to watch and be with a baby again makes you kind of slow down and think about life. Think about “what am I living for?” And if everything was taken away from me, if my money, my bull riding, my family were all taken away then what is it if you lose everything that you live for?

It comes to mind that we’re all going to lose everything. We’re all going out the way we came in, naked and with nothing, just as my son peter did. I’m kind of experiencing the world in his eyes. It just makes you slow down and think what am I riding for? What am I living for? And at the end if you have no faith and no hope to meet your maker, and to meet Jesus, it makes no sense. All this work, all this effort, good, bad, what is it for? What is it worth? Without God without our maker then it seems pointless. And when things are pointless I lose hope.

This summer I found my hope again, and my belief that things are possible. I had told my wife I was feeling anxious this summer about a particular bull, it was a really good bull and there was a lot of pressure and I was getting a little bit of anxiety about it not wanting to mess it up. My wife turned towards me and said “that’s good, enjoy that feeling, enjoy the pressure, enjoy the moment. Don’t run from it, don’t try to escape it, take it all in, feel it, let it come over you. Bask in the greatness of that moment and rejoice in the mere fact that you get to experience it! Take note of how hard you worked to get there and how blessed you are to be there. Those are the moments to live for, the moments that you will remember the most. You tried your hardest and you didn’t let the fear take away your faith in the gift that God has given you.” When my wife told me that God whispered in my ear “just let it go and trust your instincts.”

Sometimes I forget I have a Father in heaven and that he leads my paths. As long as my spirits right I can trust and have hope and belief in things that seemed impossible. Sometimes I just have to remember to try to just enjoy the moment.

World Champion, Mike Lee, stays near the top of the 

2014 Built Ford Tough Series Standings. 

PBR BFTS 2014 (as of 5-2-14):

Events - 14
Top Five Standings - 5
Top Ten Standings - 10
Points - 4472.06
Current BFTS World Standings - 4th place

BFTS Career Stats:

Events - 316
Outs - 890
Rides - 448
Percentage - 50.34

Upcoming Events:
Rumble in the Rockies, Colorado Springs, Colorado - PBR BFTS - May 2-4
Last Cowboy Standing, Las Vegas, Nevada - PBR BFTS - May 9-10
Lane Frost Memorial Christian Bull Riding and Bull Fighting School, 
                                                           Lane, Oklahoma - June 9-11
Express Employment Professionals Classic, Tulsa, Oklahoma - PBR BFTS - Aug 15-16

The Twelve Weeks of BFTS

With the first half of the season in full swing, it is interesting to look back over the stats for the first part of the Built Ford Tough Series.  Mike Lee has stayed at or near the top this entire season.

Go to the PBR website for more stats like the one below.

TOP-RANKED RIDERS – Here are the top-ranked riders of 2014 with their BFTS points by week:

Week 1 – Fabiano Vieira, 1,012.50 (14.88 points ahead of J.B. Mauney)
Week 2 – Fabiano Vieira, 1,666.00 (221.75 points ahead of Mike Lee)
Week 3 – Mike Lee, 1,926.00 (147.38 points ahead of Fabiano Vieira)
Week 4 – Mike Lee, 2,610.25 (522.88 points ahead of Joao Ricardo Vieira)
Week 5 – Mike Lee, 3,024.75 (431.88 points ahead of Fabiano Vieira)
Week 6 – Guilherme Marchi, 3,191.50 (83.25 points ahead of Mike Lee)
Week 7 – Mike Lee, 3,784.25 (354.38 points ahead of Joao Ricardo Vieira)
Week 8 – Guilherme Marchi, 3,908.25 (124 points ahead of Mike Lee)
Week 9 – Guilherme Marchi, 4,313.43 (295.62 ahead of Mike Lee)
Week 10 – Guilherme Marchi 4,417.43 (70.37 ahead of Mike Lee)
Week 11 – Guilherme Marchi 5,073.68 (726.62 ahead of Mike Lee)
Week 12 – Guilherme Marchi 5,198.68 (374.12 ahead of Joao Ricardo Vieira)

Photo by Terry Good

Mike Lee is in BFTS 1st Place after St. Louis PBR Event Feb 14-16

Mike Lee, once again, continues to show the world why he still has got what it takes to be a World Champion.

Mike Lee at the BFTS event in St. Louis
Terry Good, photographer

Since the 2014 Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Season has begun, Mike has consistently proven that he is one of the best bull riders in the world. With his success this weekend in St. Louis, he rises to 1^st place in the BFTS, where he has been almost all season.

His stats for 2014 are as follows 
(as of the publishing of this article)

•         1^st place in the BFTS
•          3,340.50 pts
•          7 events
•          26 outs, 16 rides – 61.54%
•          5 – Top 5’s
•          6 – Top 10’s
•     World Money $46,603.54

Career Stats

•          309 Career events
•          Career 874 outs, 444 rides – 50.8%
•          Sixth in the PBR All Time Money Earners Stats with $3,344,159.69
•          PBR World Finals Qualifications – 12 years in a row

For current stats go to his profile on the PBR website.

I asked Mike how it felt to be in 1^st place and he replied, “God is good. I don’t have anything to do with it.”

He went on to say, “It is spooky being on top. It is hard as a Christian man because pride can sneak in real easy. I have to stay humble and I know that God is in control.”

“I just live for the moment. There is a lot less stress and that is what I am trying to do. When I get bucked off a bull, I am grateful because I learned something and I trust God. I don’t get angry like I used to. I’m tired of being stressed out.”

“I’m sick of the worldly way of thinking.”

Mike Lee thanks God after every ride.
Photo by Terry Good, photographer.

I asked him if there was something he wanted to tell his fans and he gave me the answer I knew he would. 

Mike is a simple man with one thing on his mind, and that is Jesus.

“I just want to say I believe in Christ and what Jesus did on the cross. I am very appreciative and humble for the way God lived for us and died for us.”

I asked him how it feels to be a new daddy again.

“Pretty cool. He is a good baby. He likes to eat and is very healthy. He can’t go long without eating!” He shared that his wife, Dana, is doing great and they are both excited to have little Peter John Lee.

With Mike, his success isn’t based on a percentage or statistic.  He trains hard, prepares physically and mentally for each event, and tries to take each ride as it comes but he understands that he is in God’s will and completely trusts his future to Him.

The World Champion Mike Lee is a lot like the World Champion bull Bushwacker -

•      If you take the bucking out of Bushwacker he would lose who he is.
•      If you take God out of Mike Lee, he would lose who he is.

Bushwacker is retiring this year and when I cautiously brought up the subject of retirement with Mike he said,

“I don’t see myself retiring unless God tells me to.” He plans on riding bulls for years to come.

Mike shared with me that he knows talking about Jesus and God is not politically correct but that is what’s important to him and he wants to share it.  So, as I prepared this article I just couldn't separate the two in it.

Mike Lee, Professional Bull Rider
Terry Good, photographer

Mike Lee continues to hold 1st place in the BFTS with the Professional Bull Riders!

Mike Lee scores high at the Built Ford Tough Series in Oklahoma City, OK this past weekend.
He continues to hold 1st place in the BFTS standings with the PBR.
Way to go Mike!

He walked away with 684.25 points by riding -
Gear Jammer - 85.25 points
Rock and Roll Fantasy - 82.25
Jack Daniel's After Party - 86.75

Mike Lee Moves to Number One in BFTS

Mike Lee is Number One 

in the Built Ford Tough Series

He proves once again, that he's got what it takes!

Find more info at the PBR website