Ten-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier Stran Smith and his horse Destiny stopped the clock in 8.3-seconds to win the tie-down roping at the innagural Heartland ProRodeo Series Tour Championships.

The PRCA’s newest tour, the Heartland ProRodeo Series, culminated in October with seven cowboys earning titles at the Heart O’ Texas Fair complex in Waco, Texas.

Tie-down roper Stran Smith headlined the list of champions with an 8.3-second run in the final round of an elimination-style tournament much like Dodge National Circuit Finals or the Ariat Playoff stops.

"Winning is a good shot in the arm this time of year," said Stran Smith of Childress, Texas, who won the tie-down roping title. "To win a check like that, you have to win a major rodeo and do really well. So to win that $7,500 at the end of the night, you’d have to be at a Dallas, Omaha (Neb.) or a Wrangler National Finals Rodeo."

The Heartland ProRodeo Series was designed as a way to stimulate interest in smaller purse rodeos by creating a series culmination for any rodeo with a $30,000 or smaller purse. In 2008, 260 rodeos qualified. Cowboys earn points at those rodeos that can qualify them to the $482,000 championship in Waco.

"Waco has always been great to me," Smith said. "I’ve won a lot of stuff here. I made the (Wrangler National) Finals from here once. I won an eight-man match here. I won the Texas Circuit all-around and calf roping here once. This has been a good spot for me."

In sum, Smith took $12,394 from the rodeo.

Team ropers Bubba Bohac and Twister Cain survived 30 other teams in pool play to advance to a final-round winner-take-all performance with four other teams. Once there, a 5.7-second final-round run netted the two Texas cowboys $10,346 each.

In the saddle bronc riding, Kobyn Williams scratched out the only qualified ride in the final round—a 67 aboard Rafter G Rodeo’s Billings—for the win.

Williams, of DeBerry, Texas, won $9,873, the most he has ever won in his career at the Heartland ProRodeo Championships.

"It hasn’t really hit me yet," Williams said. "It’s just amazing. I barely slipped into the finals. I just kept chipping away and here I am holding the gold buckle."

In the bareback riding Dave Worsfold won his event with an 89-point score aboard Classic ProRodeo’s Goodtime Charlie. Arkansas cowboy Rodney Burks turfed his final-round steer in 3.7 seconds for the win and $9,846. Bobby Welsh came away as the top bull rider through a series of unusual tiebreakers and qualification requirements.