KENNEWICK - The Professional Bull Riders will return to Kennewick from September 9-10 in the Challenger Series’ PBR Tri-Cities Classic at the Toyota Center.

This is the second time the PBR has had an event in Kennewick, and this year attendees will bear witness to the finest riders that the PBR has to offer.

The event is part of a newly launched PBR Challenger Series, which hosts over 60 events in 27 different states from May-November. The series ends with a championship in November, hosted in Las Vegas.

The PBR Challenger Series pits eight bull-riding teams against one another, with each team having a maintained roster. The teams have the choice to enter those on the roster or a practice rider into each event during the series.

Currently, the PBR is allowing those on teams to participate in the events, even if not selected by their affiliated teams for a certain competition. The same goes for those unaffiliated with a team.

This is the second year in a row that the PBR has hosted an event in Kennewick after 2021 saw the debut of the PBR in the area. Last year, Newport native Cody Casper saw a three-for-three performance in the inaugural Tri-Cities Classic. Casper’s performance allowed him to take home his sixth career PBR victory.

While Kennewick has only hosted the event once, other nearby cities in Washington have hosted similar bull riding events. Yakima has hosted PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour events and Pasco hosted the Touring Pro Division in 2009-10.

The Tri-Cities have also given bull riding a world-class rider in Derek Kolbaba, who has qualified for the PBR World Finals seven times and was the runner-up in 2017.

The competition will host 40 bull riders who will be given one bull each in the first two rounds. The top 10 performers will advance for an opportunity to take home the event title.

The Tri-Cities Classic will begin at 8 p.m. on September 9 and 7 p.m. on September 10. Those interested in purchasing tickets can find them on Ticketmaster and PBR.com, along with the Toyota Center Box Office.