Clayton Sellars

 By Susan Kanode

            Clayton Sellars is headed to Las Vegas in December 2024 to compete at his fourth Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. In 2019, he became the first bull rider from Florida to compete at rodeo’s championships since 1965. Phil Heiner from Summerfield, Florida, finished in 9^th that year. 

            Born and raised on a ranch in Florida, he has his sights set on a gold buckle. He started getting on bulls soon after he hit double digits. He was also riding dirt bikes and playing other sports at the time. When it became evident that he didn’t have time to do all that he wanted and to do it well, he put his focus in the rodeo arena. He qualified for the National High School Finals Rodeo three times. After high school, he attended Western Texas College at Snyder where he qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo. He bought his PRCA card in 2017 and narrowly missed the NFR the next year. 

            Clayton had three consecutive qualifications to his credit and thinking the grass might be greener, he ventured over to the Professional Bull Riders. He had success there but missed the family-friendly atmosphere of the rodeos. That is more important to him now than ever. 

            Maybe his focus on rodeo now has something to do with his growing family. In 2022, he married Billie Holman from California and sister of NFR saddle bronc rider Lefty Holman. That makes Clayton’s wife a niece of NFR steer wrestler, Dakota Eldridge’s wife Quincy, and a cousin to Dawson Hay’s wife Lily. And they are all doing their part to raise the next generation of rodeo kids. Clayton and Billie added a son, Poncho Pete, in August. Poncho is the first boy in the family of rodeo competitors and no matter what he does, he will have the unconditional love and support from all of them. 

            Even with taking time off for Poncho’s birth, Clayton has regular season earnings of more than $200,000, the best year of his career so far. And, with less than $40,000 separating him and leader T.J. Gray, this is one of the tightest bull riding races we’ve seen. Clayton got a big boost at the last rodeo of the season when he won the Cinch Playoff Series Championship at the Governor’s Cup Rodeo in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He thinks that was a warmup for Las Vegas. 

One on One with the Wrangler NFR Bull Rider Clayton Sellars

Favorite movie:  Lonesome Dove without a doubt. That’s an easy answer.           

What superpower would you like to have: I think having a healing touch would be cool.

Dogs or cats:  Dogs – I always had a pen full of dogs, big dogs and cow dogs. We don’t have any now, but I’m sure we will have a bunch in the future. 

Favorite dessert:  That’s a hard one. I’m a big treats guy. There aren’t any that I don’t like, but cookies and cream milkshake is close to the top or a warm cookie made in a skillet with ice cream is right up there too. 

TV show that you binge watch: The Chosen. It’s the bible in color. You can see and feel the personalities and it’s a visual to the stories that you’ve always read. 

What would people be surprised to learn about you: That I’m a cowboy first and bull rider second. Being a good cowboy and working on those skills is really important to me. 

Favorite thing to do away from the arena: That may have changed in the last three months now that I’m a dad. I like to ride horses and have really enjoyed picking up broncs. I think that is fun. I day work and work cows for people. Being outside, make improvements to my house, make my horses better, make myself better by working out. I enjoy it all.  

Favorite spectator sport, other than rodeo: I’ve always had a lot of respect for skateboarders. I tried it a little when I was young. Freestyle motorcross guys are really cool too. 

If you weren’t in rodeo, what would you be doing: I think I’d be racing dirt bikes right now, given the path I was on when I started rodeoing. When I was about 12, I was doing both and had to make a choice. I picked rodeo, but I still love dirt bikes. 

Best childhood memory:  This one time, me and my brother walked into the garage. We were about to get on our dirt bikes. He put his boot on, jumped up in the air and started yelling. He turned his boot over and a big giant black snake fell out of his boot. I thought it was so funny because he was like Woody from Toy Story, “There’s a snake in my boot.” 

Tea or coffee:  Coffee for sure. 

Favorite thing about Las Vegas: Everything that I like about Las Vegas is tied to the NFR for me. The big stakes involved and everyone working to be their best. I like how Las Vegas welcomes us, and you don’t have any trouble finding a restaurant that’s open. 

Music or podcast on your playlist: I listen to Jordan Peterson every day, on his podcast or when he’s interviewed on other podcasts. Wherever he goes, whatever he is speaking, I listen. I haven’t listened to much music lately, but I do like Poser and Zach Top. 

Dream bucking bull to get on:  I always wanted to get on Sweet Pro Bruiser. I entered every draw that he was in, just hoping to get on him one time.  

What buckle do you wear and why: San Antonio from this year. It reminds me of how I felt that week and that showed in the arena. 

What’s your strong point as a competitor: I’ve learned how to use my mental game. When it is strong it is the strongest and I’ve learned to capitalize on that. 

If you could give advice to a young rodeo competitor, what would it be:  Try to be the best person you can be. The world and rodeo are going to pull you in a lot of different directions. Be a good person first and everything else will come. 

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be: We have a place in Visalia now and it has everything we need. We also have a place in Florida and split time between the two. I sure wouldn’t mind living around Weatherford, Texas. 

Sponsors that help you get down the road: Resistol and Ariat have been very good to me. 

Follow Clayton Sellars on Instagram.