COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Tie-down roper Barry Burk suffered a spiral fracture of his right index finger while practicing Nov. 5 at his Ponca City, Okla., home and has withdrawn from the $550,000 Wrangler ProRodeo Tour Championship, Nov. 9-11, in Dallas.

The injury brings to an end Burk’s dramatic late-season charge for a berth in the $5.5 million Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. By winning the average title at Puyallup, Wash., and the championship buckle in Omaha, Neb., Burk had moved to within $6,810 of the final Wrangler NFR qualifying spot entering Dallas.

Burk sustained a strained groin muscle in mid-October and had spent the past few weeks working out on an exercise bicycle to accelerate the healing process. The Nov. 5 practice session was meant to be a test of his fitness for Dallas.

“The first calf I roped,” Burk said, “everything felt fine, and I was really encouraged. On the second calf, my right hand got caught in the coil of the rope and it broke my index finger. It was a freak deal. From looking at the X-ray, it was broken in two or three spots.”

Burk is scheduled to visit the Kansas Orthopedic Clinic in Wichita on Nov. 7 to determine whether surgery will be necessary.

Clint Cooper, the next highest-rated tie-down roper in the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour standings, will take Burk’s spot at Dallas, thereby resurrecting his dreams of a Wrangler NFR berth.

Cooper, the son of ProRodeo Hall of Fame roper Roy Cooper and Trevor Brazile’s brother-in-law, is 18th in the Crusher Rentals PRCA World Standings and needs to earn $6,054 more than Joseph Parsons at Dallas in order to bump him out of 15th place and qualify for the Wrangler NFR.

But that’s not Cooper’s only route to Las Vegas. If he can earn $8,903 over the weekend at the American Airlines Center, Cooper would move ahead of the absent 14th-placed Jerome Schneeberger, no matter what happens with Parsons.

Even with his injury and the business of setting up hospital appointments, Barry Burk took a moment to call Blair Burk (no relation) to give him a heads up about his withdrawal.

“I didn’t have Clint’s number, so I called Blair, because I know they travel together sometimes,” Barry Burk said. “I wanted him to know, in case he had to do anything to get into Dallas.”

The PRCA, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., is the largest and oldest rodeo-sanctioning body in the world. The recognized leader in professional rodeo, the PRCA is committed to maintaining the highest standards of the sport.

The PRCA, a membership-based organization, sanctions more than 650 rodeos annually, which draws 24 million attendees. The PRCA showcases the world’s best cowboys in premier events through the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour and its championship events, Dodge Xtreme Bulls, the PRCA’s world-championship bull riding tour; and the world-renowned Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. PRCA-sanctioned rodeos, including the sport’s premier events, appear on the Outdoor Channel, Fox Sports, CBS, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.

Each year, PRCA-sanctioned rodeos raise more than $26 million for local and national charities. www.prorodeo.com