Rodeo contestants vie for Harley Tucker award

Published 7:00 am Wednesday, July 26, 2023

JOSEPH — The winner of the Harley Tucker Rodeo Series award will be named at the end of the Saturday night performance of the Chief Joseph Days Rodeo.

The award was started 52 years ago in honor of Harley Tucker, rodeo producer from Joseph, who was one of the founders of Chief Joseph Days. The award was established in hopes of attracting more contestants to the regional rodeos.

The winner of the award is determined by points the contestants earn at each of the four rodeos, including the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show in Union, the St. Paul rodeo in St. Paul, the Elgin Stampede in Elgin and Chief Joseph Days.

The award consists of $3,000 and a silver belt buckle and will go to the contestant who earned the most points at the four rodeos. There also is an accumulative fund which will go to a three-time winner of the award; that fund now sits at $15,000.

Previous three-time winners include Hall of Famer Butch Knowles of Heppner, who won $5,100, Rocky Steagal of Irrigon, who won $3,100 and Brad Goodrich of Hermiston, who won $10,500.

This year, leading contestants for the award are Ringo Robinson, Jeff Flennkin, Tyler Worley, Jack Bentz, Joel Harris and barrel racer Arley Hughes.

The funds for this award are provided by its major sponsors, Farm Supply Distributors of Enterprise, the four regional rodeos and the grandchildren of Harley Tucker.