“I wasn’t going to be sitting at home crying when there was a rodeo 20 miles from the house,” Lunak says on the interivew.
She entered Browning, Montana, won it—and punched an automatic ticket to Vegas. That win let her spend the summer at home on the Blackfeet Reservation, reconnecting with her family ranch and the culture that grounds her.
Megan Lunak’s Story of Sobriety, Strength and 2025 INFR World Championship
A clean-slate Finals and a mare with heart
When she arrived in Las Vegas, Lunak came with a mission: rope every calf like a ranch job. The INFR starts clean, so every contestant is back on equal footing.
Her mare, Notta Wimpy Gun (“Cricket”), rose to the moment with lightning speed and the grit Lunak spent years developing.
“I give a lot of credit to my horse,” Lunak said. “She’s amazing… the most fun horse I’ve ever owned.”
Lunak pulled checks in Rounds 1 and 4 with runs of 2.95 and 2.61 seconds to win the average and the world.
Sobriety, strength and showing up anyway
On the podcast, Lunak is unflinchingly honest about her past—including a decade of sobriety that reshaped her life and career.
“I was ruining my life,” she tells listeners. “But my dad, Dutch, set the bar for how to live a good, clean cowboy life.”
Even after she got sober, things didn’t magically get easier. Living on the Blackfeet Reservation, she sees addiction every day—and hopes her story can be a lighthouse for someone else.
“If I can be a role model to let them know they’re not alone, I will.”
Don’t miss the full conversation
This interview is Lunak at her realest—funny, vulnerable, tough and proud. She takes listeners inside:
- The rodeo that changed everything
- How grief reshaped her season
- What makes Cricket so special
- The moment she knew she wasn’t “leaving second” in Vegas
- Sobriety, loss and rebuilding identity
- Film-set stories from Yellowstone
- Why she wants to be a resource for other women in rodeo
🎧 Listen to the full episode of The Breakdown now. It’s one of our most powerful conversations of the season.
Episode supported by Kimes Million Dollar Breakaway
The Kimes Ranch Million Dollar Breakaway, presented by Boot Barn, is the premier event in women’s rodeo, featuring a record-breaking million-dollar purse, inspiring competition, live concerts, shopping, and family fun at WestWorld of Scottsdale, November 24–30.
MillionDollarBreakaway.com
