George Strait presents the keys to a new truck to the heading champion of his roping, Chad Masters, while Jade Corkill gets the keys for his rig from a representative from Cavender Chevrolet in Boerne, Texas.

On March 14, a 21-year-old kid from Nevada cashed the biggest paycheck ever made out to a team roper.

It seems fitting then, that he earned it at arguably the wickedest team roping that’s ever been. The 27th annual George Strait Team Roping Classic was the gunfight of all gunfights (a guy had to be four seconds on all three steers to win first or second), overshadowed only by the fact that one header and one heeler won four—count ’em, four—of the top six holes.

The header in question is former world champion Chad Masters. He won first and fourth. The recipient of the world’s largest team roping payday? Jade Corkill, who won first, second and sixth and is rapidly becoming known as the world’s first human roping machine.

At San Antonio’s Rose Palace, Masters and Corkill averaged 4.81 seconds on five straight. What’s more, both men roped all 15 steers just about that fast with their respective partners. The resulting windfall between the two of them was an incredible $277,686 plus two Chevy duallies, Bruton trailers, Twister saddles, Gist buckles and much, much more.

The sellout crowd at the annual GSTRC is usually there for glimpses of country music’s undisputed king. But George gives them a real treat in the format of his two-day roping (two full qualifying rounds Friday and a clean slate Saturday for the top 50 to rope three full rounds). Fans know that every one of the 900-plus ropers has to sling nylon and poly in 5 seconds or faster every time.

When your two high callbacks Saturday are nine on two and only 1.5 seconds separate the top 10 (as in this year), you’ve got practically the best show on dirt, with or without George sightings.

Mastering the roping
Chad Masters was coming off a sub-par NFR (for him) and admittedly hadn’t roped well all winter—in fact his rodeo partnership had just broken up. But Masters can master a slump like nobody else, and he, like Corkill, showed up Saturday to take names.

The Chad-and-Jade show actually began on Friday, when they topped the two-head average. Then on Saturday, each of them nabbed three out of three of the fastest averages coming back for their third steer. Corkill was high call with Brandon Beers, second-high with Masters and seventh-high with Jake Cooper.

Once the Strait hits faded away and the rock and roll cranked up, the guys on top didn’t disappoint. In the toughest finals of GSTRC history, Masters took the average lead with a 15.26—which would have won every single other George Strait Classic.

In fact, until last year’s 15.63, Speed Williams had cornered the market on speed at the Strait, setting the record at 16.30 in 2002 (with Tyler Magnus) and smashing it himself with Strait victories in ’05 (15.90 with Clay O’Brien Cooper) and ’06 (15.82 with Brad Culpepper).

George Straitââ¬â¢s son, Bubba, roped with Wayne Folmer and turned in a 5.85-second time in the first round. In addition to Folmer, the younger Strait made the second round with Kirt Jones.

Fast-forward back to 2009.

Masters has already broken the record, but three teams remain. Brady Tryan and Matt Zancanella wow the crowd and steal the lead with a smoking 4.83 for a 15.20. Then Masters rides back into the box with Corkill and nods for a good steer. The two of them, even playing it safe, put up a 4.96 for a 14.40 on three. It shatters the average record by more than a second.

"I’ve never ran a steer that important," Masters will say afterward. "I’ve ran 10 that were that important. But not one for that kind of money."

Meanwhile, Beers has been off his horse and standing apart, waiting for his only callback. His partner has already won the roping.

As Corkill rides back up the arena, Beers is told he has to be 5.1 to win. Frustratingly, nobody knows anything about his steer, but he looks good so Beers scores him like he’s good. Turns out he’s a little strong, and their 5.43 gives them a 14.87.

A short 17 seconds on three—which usually guarantees you about $24,000—barely secured last place in this roping. To put it in perspective, Turtle Powell and Kirt Jones won the Strait six years ago with an 18.

Nobody was as spectacular in the finals as round-winners Tanner Bryson and Matt Garza, who wrapped up the fast time of the roping with a 4.15 on a red-wrapped steer to earn $6,500 each. And there’s a new Tryan in town—19-year-old Brady is the littlest brother of world champ Clay and defending George Strait Classic champ Travis, and he turned heads in San Antonio. The youngster broke out on a 4.69-second run for Matt Kasner to cost himself fifth for $17,800 a man, but picked his head up and came back with Zancanella for that 4.83 that secured third in the average for $24,475 a man.

Still, all the props deservedly go to Masters and Corkill, who started their weekend as the only team (perhaps ever) to place in both of the first two rounds Friday against 485 teams.

The roping was up 56 teams from last year, despite a fees increase, which isn’t surprising. After all, it’s the only contest where you can put up $500 a man and have a chance at the $152,193 that Corkill pocketed, or even the $125,493 that Masters rode away with. That said, they earned it.

"To me, at the Strait, I think it’s just as tough to make it back as it is to win the roping," said Masters, who ranks it right alongside winning the world, which he did in 2007.

He and Corkill not only led the top 50 back, but in Saturday’s second round posted the second-fastest time of the weekend with a 4.23 on a red-wrapped steer. Anyone who draws the red wraps wants to win the round for that $10,000 bonus (sponsored by Wayne Wright Lawyers), but why would a guy who’s trying to be smooth on all three take the chance?

"That just happened," Masters exclaimed. "I wasn’t planning that!"

George Strait presents the keys to a new truck to the heading champion of his roping, Chad Masters, while Jade Corkill gets the keys for his rig from a representative from Cavender Chevrolet in Boerne, Texas.

It could be that when you’re hot, you’re hot. But Masters said it also had to do with "the best steers you’ve ever roped" at this year’s "Strait." And, no doubt, it had to do with his black horse Stranger, who’s "pretty forgiving" when a guy’s got to reach and get left for two straight days. Stranger also allowed Masters to stick to his strategy.

"All I really thought about all weekend was scoring," he said. "No matter what, I wanted to see my start, and just let the roping happen. The main thing I focused on was what I was going to see."

Masters, who’d drawn a hard runner with third callback partner Clay O’Brien Cooper, earned $22,250 for fourth and $103,243 total with Corkill. He planned to use some of his profit to pay off his place in Santo, Texas and possibly install new flooring. Having never won a truck or trailer, he’s also decided to "put as many miles on that truck as has ever been put on a George Strait truck."

In fact, Masters’ only regret is that he didn’t get to stick around. He had to jump on a plane that Steve Purcella had chartered to get them to the performance that night at RodeoHouston.

"I only got to shake the hands of two of the sponsors, and was an hour late getting to the plane," he says. "I really wanted to say thank you. I hated not sticking around to visit with George and all the people that were part of the roping."

Masters is extraordinarily grateful, and also gives a shout out to his full-time sponsors Cactus Ropes, Cactus Saddlery, Heel-O-Matic, Pro Equine, Ariat and Perfect Bit.

Cool as Ice
George Strait always likes to see somebody he knows drive off in one of his prize rigs, and Corkill fit that bill after having buddied with Bubba Strait in the past. But Corkill had previously never won a dime at George’s roping.

Usually the first of three very important callbacks can dictate how the rest will go, but Corkill said the first of his three with Jake Cooper was mentally the easiest.

"I just try to think about what I’m doing, which is what I did all day," Corkill said. "Just try not to do anything stupid and rope how I rope—not try to win. I figured if I roped everything by two feet…"

Don’t let him make it sound so easy. That steer went left, was a little weak and didn’t take Cooper’s set very well. The way Corkill cleaned up the trash was nothing short of amazing.

"I almost let go and it wasn’t right, so I kicked through a couple jumps," he says matter-of-factly of the six-second run that placed them sixth in the average.

Corkill averaged five seconds flat altogether on nine head with three partners. Part of his strategy, he said, was to push his steers a tad to the left so they didn’t think they were getting away. "If I let them see me, they’ll slow up and give my headers a better shot," he explained.

Corkill’s unbelievable haul of $152,193 came courtesy of the six figures with Masters, the $35,600 he won for second with Beers and $13,350 for sixth with Cooper. His first phone calls were to his mother (who was at a Nevada high school rodeo with Jade’s sister) and to long-time girlfriend Shannon Jones, in college at San Luis Obispo.

He said he may invest some dinero in another rental property to go with the one he purchased just after the NFR, and he might look into buying a place for himself around Lipan, Texas. As for the truck, luck would have it that he’d just bought a brand-new one, which will likely now be covered and saved for a while.

Brandon Beers reacts to being high call at the GSTRC just after roping his second steer with Jade Corkill.

But it’s more than the new rig and the payday that make winning the Strait different to Corkill than anything else.

"I’ve never been more thankful that it happened to me," he says. "George doesn’t have to put on that roping. It’s life-changing for somebody. Just because he wants to do it, he completely changed my life."

In addition to nods to Cavender Chevrolet, Bruton trailers and all the other Strait donors, Corkill is grateful for support on the road from Wrangler, Rattler Ropes, Best Ever Pads, Day Money Roping Supplies, and Pacific Pride.

And no matter where he ropes or what he wins, Corkill maintains that the difference is always the great horse. In his case, that’s his little sorrel gelding Ice Cube. He got the 11-year-old unpapered horse six years ago from Wade Bunn of California, and they’ve "been through a lot together." Ice Cube climbs the trailer, tries to buck every time he’s saddled and hates being by himself. But he can run and he will cow, and he flat works every time in every situation.

"I roped nine steers today and they were all rodeo runs," Corkill pointed out at the Rose Palace. "He does the same thing every time. Not once has he cost me a thing."

Ice Cube has an uncanny ability to know exactly where to be on a steer no matter what happens, Corkill said.

"Even on that steer with Jake, when I was going to throw but then decided not to, because it didn’t feel right, he came right out of it," he said just minutes after the win. "He makes it so easy, it’s unexplainable. It’s just unexplainable."

Triple Crown of reserves
Brandon Beers generally wants to win first or go down trying.

"Being first at this roping is special," he said of the GSTRC. "Everyone wants to win first. That’s why there are so many teams."

He didn’t get it done at the Strait, but he’ll go ahead and take second – again. That $35,600 paycheck looks pretty good in the bank with his $50,530 second-place hit from the last BFI (courtesy of Arky Rogers) and that $12,750 for second at February’s Wildfire Open to the World (with Corkill).

"Someday I hope to win first," he said facetiously.

Second at the nation’s three biggest ropings in one year isn’t bad on the resume, though, and roping with new partner Cesar de la Cruz this summer could change things up even more. In the meantime, Beers got a win out of the Strait that no one was expecting.

His horse, Yeller, broke his back a year and a half ago in a trailer wreck, and veterinarians didn’t think he’d ever recover enough to back in the box.

"This was his first roping back," Beers said of the relatively small 15-year-old palomino that was formerly Ross Gosney’s.

Beers used the GSTRC as the big test to see if Yeller was "back." He felt as good as new, said the relieved header, who got the horse ready for action by swimming him for a month and a half with Byler Performance Equine in Texas.