Challenge of the Champions Race is on after Northeast Circuit Finals Payouts Push Ranch Sorters Up the Charts 

The 2026–2027 Holiday Auto Group Challenge of the Champions standings shifted significantly across every division this week, with new riders taking over the top spot in three of the four money-earner lists and seven riders cracking a Top 10 for the first time this season.

Nearly all the movement traced back to a single event: the Cinch RSNC Northeast Circuit Finals, held August 21-23, at Garwood Arena in Columbiana, Ohio, where $23,000 in cash payouts across more than a dozen classes reshaped four divisions’ worth of standings.

Open: Hunter Brzymialkiewicz Opens the Season with a Commanding Lead

Hunter Brzymialkiewicz (Waller, Texas) sits atop the Open division money list as the 2026–2027 Challenge of the Champions season gets underway, with $25,376 in earnings—more than double the total of anyone else in the Top 10. The newly crowned #8 rider wasted little time putting his new rating to work in the #13 at the high-stakes Cowtown Cup Super Sort in Fort Worth on July 1, produced by Tommy Roberson and Don Lamont. Brzymialkiewicz claimed both the Champion and Reserve Champion titles for $15,000 and $10,000, respectively.

Right behind him, Joel Lesh (Stillwater, Oklahoma) made the week’s biggest move up the board, jumping two spots from fourth to second as his earnings rose from $8,183 to $12,588 at the Northeast Circuit Finals, where he won the Cinch #13 Gold Shootout for $3,053. Also at the Northeast Circuit Finals, Kevin Reese (Fayetteville, Tennessee) moved up from sixth to fifth as his earnings climbed from $5,448 to $7,182. Jessie Wolfe (Wellington, Colorado) cracked the Top 10 for the first time, entering at No. 6 with $5,926.

Amateur: Nelson Mas Retakes the Lead as Two Newcomers Crack the Top 5

Nelson Mas (Allentown, New Jersey) overtook Ella Snyder (Fayetteville, Tennessee) for the No. 1 spot in the Amateur/Graduated Amateur division, with his earnings climbing from $15,000 to $20,813. The entire gain came from the Cinch RSNC Northeast Circuit Finals, where Mas added $5,813, including a first- and second-place finish in the All Levels worth $1,446 and $1,085.

Snyder slipped to second even as her own earnings grew from $18,372 to $20,127 in Ohio. Two riders broke directly into the top five in their first appearance on the list: Julia Sfera debuted at No. 3 with $7,595, and Caitlin Cochran (Williston, Florida) entered at No. 4 with $7,124. Victor Dold (Appleton, New York) also entered the Top 10 for the first time, landing at No. 8 with $5,670.

Watch last year’s Champions battle for the title at the 2026 Cinch RSNC World Finals on Ride TV.

Novice: Eric Turner Nearly Doubles His Way to No. 1

Eric Turner (Sellersville, Pennsylvania) leapfrogged Aspen Reese (Fayetteville, Tennessee) for the top spot in the Novice/Graduated Novice division, nearly doubling his earnings from $5,190 to $9,087. The entire $3,897 was also gained at the Cinch RSNC Northeast Circuit Finals, where Turner won the US Rider #5 Gold Shootout for $1,256, took third in the Professional’s Choice #9 Gold Shootout for $1,639 plus a Fast Go Bonus, and placed third in the Western Heritage #6.

Reese, last week’s leader, moved to second as her own earnings grew from $5,426 to $7,221, helped by her own Reserve Champion finish behind Turner in the US Rider #5 Gold Shootout, worth $838, and a Champion title in the #12, worth $835. Karen Narburgh (Kent, New York) was the division’s lone newcomer, capping a standout Northeast Circuit Finals with Champion titles in both the Total Feeds #8 and the Western Heritage #6 to enter the Top 10 at No. 8 with $3,290.

Rookie: Lauri Vanderziel’s Three-Spot Jump Vaults Her Past the Field

The Beginner/Rookie/Graduated Rookie division saw the week’s biggest single jump: Lauri Vanderziel (Caliente, California) climbed three spots, from fourth to first, as her earnings more than doubled from $1,995 to $4,474. The entire $2,479 gain was earned at the Northeast Circuit Finals, where Vanderziel won the Western Heritage #6 for $1,008 and placed in the money in the Hyer #11 Rookie and the Total Feeds #8. The move displaced last week’s entire podium—Chelsie Schmidt (Glide, Oregon), Cassie Daniel (Guthrie, Texas) and Justin Schmidt (Glide, Oregon) dropped to third, fourth and sixth, respectively.

Two new riders also broke into the top five: Christy Hayes (Dawson, Pennsylvania) debuted at No. 2 with $4,225, highlighted by her win in the Hyer #11 Rookie for $1,417, and Brenda Macauley (Mount Morris, New York) entered at No. 5 with $2,636, built largely on a pair of runner-up finishes at the Northeast Circuit Finals, including second behind Hayes in that same Hyer #11 Rookie Handicap for $1,328, plus second in the Mil-Spec Liners #6 /4 Inc for $891.

Find the current standings on RSNC.us