3.5 Blaine Linaweaver and Jory Levy (San Angelo, Texas, 2001)
Linaweaver: What I remember is that we were struggling. We were talking about going home. We weren't winning and we didn't know if we had what it takes. We didn't have much confidence. It was my first year out and I was starting to think that I might not have what it takes.
We didn't do good on our first one, and the second round was fast. A 4.5 or 4.6 was winning the last hole, It was dirty fast; Speed and Rich were 3.7 the day before, which tied the world record.
Our backs were kind of against the wall and we went as fast as we could go without making any mistakes. It felt like slow motion but it was also a blur. Everything just came together at the right time.
It's not so much that I like owning the record, but I really believe it was a career-changing run. Before that run, I was ready to give up. I was ready to go home and work construction and rope on the weekends. After that run, we thought, 'Hey, we can do this and we can hang with these guys.'
From there on I've made the Finals five times. It only takes one run to make you shoot for the top. It's amazing what a little confidence can do.
Levy: The run was kind of do-or-die for us. We weren't winning much and we were pretty broke. The night before, me and Blaine were laid up in the camper and he said, 'We're going to break the world record.' Then we did. We knew the steer was going to give us a good chance. Back then, Blaine reached a lot more than he does now. The steer was just perfect. He threw his head up and stepped to the left and he had it on him boom, right then. Then he gave me the chance to come around there and slam it shut. It was dang sure what we needed to get back on track and it turned into a successful year for us.
The funny thing was the night before, Speed and Rich had tied the world record (then a 3.7). So it was kind of neat to take it from them after they only held it for 24 hours. What's funny is, if I'm not mistaken, they had that steer that we set the record on before we did that week.
For my career, there are a lot of other things I'd like to do, but this has made me a lot more recognizeable.
Being 3 is not as exclusive a club as it once was. In fact, 16 different ropers have been a part of 3.7-second or faster runs-of which there have been 12. In 1986, Tee Woolman and Bobby Harris had the first 3.7-second run ever. It took 15 years for it to be matched-by Speed Williams and Rich Skelton in San Angelo. Then, a mere 24 hours later, Blaine Linaweaver and Jory Levy broke it with a 3.5-second run at the same rodeo. Then, a year later there were two 3.6 runs at the first Texas Stampede-then called the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Cup Finale. Speed and Rich and Clay Tryan and Michael Jones tied the 3.7 mark at the 2004 Wrangler NFR. Then, during the ninth round of last year's Wrangler NFR, there was a flurry of 3s-including the tied record. In fact, 4-second runs didn't even place in that round. Below, are the reactions of those men who set those marks.
