In 2024, the WPRA Barrel Racing World Title came down to Kassie Mowry and Hailey Kinsel. The fastest time in Round 10 would win the Gold Buckle.

In the end, Mowry prevailed, besting Kinsel 13.59–13.97 to claim her first World Title and deny Kinsel her fifth. But how it reached that point was the real story.

In a back-and-forth battle for the ages, Kinsel, who entered the NFR ranked No. 1, won the first three rounds, only to see Mowry respond with five straight of her own, tying Jimmie Munroe’s record set 40 years earlier. Just when it looked like Mowry had wrapped it up, the momentum swung again. Kinsel won Round 9, and Mowry knocked over a barrel, setting up a final-round showdown between two barrel-racing titans.

Could that happen again this year? Perhaps — but there are more heavy hitters in the mix.

Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, the second-highest earning barrel racer of all time and the 2023 World Champion, sits No. 2. Emily Beisel is No. 3 and will be competing in her seventh NFR. Then there’s Lisa Lockhart, making her 19th straight trip to Las Vegas and chasing history as she looks to become the first barrel racer to surpass $4 million in career earnings.

Legends line the leaderboard, all chasing the defending World Champion, who will compete without her great horse, Jarvis. It’s wide open in Las Vegas.

 

1. Kassie Mowry – $203,445.06

Mowry won five rounds in a row at the NFR last season on her way to her first Gold Buckle. She won the RAM Top Gun Award and tallied more than $295,000 in Vegas. Over the last two seasons, she has won $483,000 at the NFR.

In 2025, she once again kept a low rodeo count, making all of her money across just 28 events.

She won Houston, San Angelo and Greeley this year and finished second in San Antonio and Calgary.

2. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi – $194,716.09

The last time we saw Pozzi Tonozzi at the NFR she was setting the single season earnings record with over $496,499. More than $225,000 of that came from the NFR and she won the World Title by more than $165,000.

She was the champion of the NFR Open, Austin and Dodge City in 2025.

3. Emily Beisel – $185,005.25

Beisel is always dangerous at the NFR and this year she enters coming off of the best regular season of her career. She has won at least one round in every NFR of her career, including two in half of those.

She won Lawton and Deadwood in 2025 and had several notable runner-up finishes including the NFR Open, St. Paul, Reno and Puyallup.

4. Hailey Kinsel – $186,317.49

Kinsel is the most decorated barrel racer in a loaded field this year, as she has been at pretty much every NFR in the 2020s. She won four rounds a year ago, which makes it the third time this decade she has won at least four at the NFR. She has also placed in exactly seven rounds three of the last four years.

During the 2025 season, she only ran Sister 21 times and was the champion in Reno, Spanish Fork and Cody.

5. Megan McLeod-Sprague – $174,974.85

McLeod-Sprague has finished Top 35 each of the last three seasons prior to really making a run at her first NFR in 2025.

Don’t think the bright lights will be too much for her. She has been to 16 circuit finals in her career and was four-time CNFR qualifier in the early 2000s.

This season, she made more money than any other barrel racer over Cowboy Christmas and won San Antonio.

6. Lisa Lockhart – $169,467.02

Lockhart has been to 19 straight NFRs which is the most of any athlete in any event in 2025.

She has placed in 18 rounds over the last three years and was the Average and Reserve World Title in 2023.

She was the champion in Cheyenne this year and added runner up finishes in Puyallup and Pendleton.

She needs just $125,000 in Las Vegas to pass $4 million in career earnings.

7. Carlee Otero – $168,493.95

After making her first NFR in a decade in 2024, Otero returns having won the National Western and Utah Days of ’47 in 2025.

At the 2024 NFR, she placed in six rounds with a cracked pelvis.

8. Anita Ellis – $146,991.74

Ellis burst on the scene to win The Calgary Stampede and ultimately make her first NFR. However, she was forced to turn out after suffering a head injury while riding a futurity horse in November.

9. Halyn Lide – $144,614.31

Lide close the season on a heater by winning both legs of the Cinch Playoffs in Puyallup and Sioux Falls. When you add in a second place finish in Ellensburg, Lide made over $67,000 in the final month of the regular season.

She made her NFR debut a year ago and placed in two rounds.

10. Tayla Moeykens – $142,560.90

Moeykens just missed out on the Finals last year when she finished No. 16 in the World and made sure that didn’t happen again by winning Pendleton down the stretch in 2025.

She also set an arena record in Hermiston and finished second at the Daddy of ‘em All this season.

11. Tricia Aldrige – $141,182.37

Prior to 2025, Aldridge had never made more than $1,000 in ProRodeo and in her breakout year she won eight rodeos and finished second at the Governor’s Cup to make her NFR debut.

Her goal was simply to make the Top 40 this year…

12. Hayle Gibson-Stillwell – $140,032.27

Gibson-Stillwell won 13 rodeos and was the runner up in six others to more than double her career earnings in 2025 and make her first NFR.

She finished in the Top 40 in 2023 and 2024.

13. Wenda Johnson – $138,428.07

Johnson advanced to her sixth straight NFR in 2025 and fared well at several rodeos with similar setups to the Thomas & Mack. She was victorious in Odessa, Omaha and Kansas City and also took second at he Snake River Stampede.

Johnson is $134,330 away from $1 million in WPRA earnings.

14. Andrea Busby – $133,098.74

In her NFR debut a year ago, Busby was clean on all 10 runs and won the NFR Average, collecting more than $200,000 along the way.

In 2025, she took advantage of the Texas Swing by winning Fort Worth, making the Finals in Austin, and claiming multiple checks in both Houston and San Antonio.

15. Katelyn Scott – $130,763.76

Yet another cowgirl making her NFR debut, Scott won checks at nine of her last 11 rodeos between Sept. 18 and Sept. 27 to ensure she made it to Las Vegas. The biggest of those was more than $10,000 for second place at the Roughrider Cup.

16. Julie Plourde – $118,276.34

A late addition to the field, Plourde will replace Ellis and make her NFR debut. She won six rodeos in 2025 and finished as the Reserve Rookie of the Year in 2024.

 

In this Fantasy Rodeo preview presented by Virgin Hotels, we break down why barrel racing offers one of the biggest edges in fantasy strategy. The top 4–7 riders consistently outperform the field, making elite picks essential. That’s why we recommend reserving at least $100,000 in your budget to secure one of these powerhouse barrel racers.

Leading the pack is World Champion Kassie Mowry, who dominated the 2024 NFR with five straight round wins, something no one has done in 40 years.

She’s followed closely by heavy hitters like Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, the record-breaking force of 2023, and Emily Beisel, a six-time NFR qualifier known for adaptability, she has won a round in all six of her appearances and placed in over half the Go-Rounds in her career.

Veterans like Haley Kinsel and Lisa Lockhart bring experience and consistency, while rising stars such as Megan McLeod Sprague and Carlee Otero add depth and sleeper potential.