Driggers, Nogueira Own Night One at 2026 Cinch Governor’s Cup

Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira won the first round of the Cinch Governor’s Cup on Friday night with a 3.8-second run.

The win paid $12,533.40 a man and pushed the world leaders to $219,086.28 (Driggers) and $219,086.25 (Nogueira).

The check that moved the NFR picture went to Dawson and Dillon Graham. The brothers came in at No. 15 on both ends and were 4.2 for third, worth $6,266.70 each.

Dawson moves to $113,544.59, past Clay Smith and Ketch Kelton to No. 13 in the heading. Dillon moves to $120,839.59, past Denton Dunning and Wyatt Cox to No. 13 in the heeling. Both are still short of TRJ’s projected cuts, Dawson by $5,955.41 at $119,500 and Dillon by $2,660.41 at $123,500.

Lightning Aguilera and Ross Ashford were 4.1 for second, good for $9,400.05 a man. The check takes Ashford to $133,687.08, past Kaden Profili and Lane Mitchell to No. 6.

Tyler Tryan and Nicky Northcott took fourth at 4.3 for $3,133.35 each.

The heelers who went home empty Friday are the ones to watch Saturday:

• Lane Mitchell, $1,628.12 above the projected cut and now No. 8, did not make a qualified run with Cody Snow.
• Trey Yates, who came in $11.25 short of TRJ’s projected end-of-season cut, was 22.8 with Garrett Tonozzi.
• Douglas Rich, $1,516.52 short, was 5.2 with Jake Smith. Smith drew into the field after Derrick Begay turned out Sioux Falls to stay on the road with Colter Todd, trying to get Todd into the NFR at the rodeos they could enter together.
• Jake Long, $1,984.15 short, was 4.8 with Andrew Ward for sixth.
• Aguilera moves to No. 4 heading, past Tomlinson.

Cory Kidd V and Carson Johnson also did not make a qualified run. Kidd, No. 20 in the heading, now trails Dawson Graham by $13,335.94. That is more than a Saturday round win pays.

Round 2 starts Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The top eight teams in the average advance to Sunday’s semifinals at 2 p.m. Teams that finish fifth through eighth in the semifinals earn $4,500 a man, and the final pays $34,000 a man to win.

Round 1 results

These are unofficial and built on TRJ’s Sept. 20 hub, adding only Sioux Falls money.

• Heading: Ketch Kelton is now No. 15 at $110,184.73, with Nelson Wyatt $3,423.74 back.
• Heeling: Wyatt Cox is now No. 15 at $114,938.67, with Colter Todd $4,604.31 back. Todd is currently leading Amarillo.

Others who slid Friday:

• Tanner Tomlinson, No. 4 to No. 5
• Clay Smith, No. 13 to No. 14
• Kelton, No. 14 to No. 15
• Kaden Profili, No. 6 to No. 7
• Lane Mitchell, No. 7 to No. 8
• Dunning, No. 13 to No. 14
• Cox, No. 14 to No. 15