Las Vegas Weekly

December 12, 2008 · 12:57 PM

Photo Gallery: It’s 50 years for Charlie Daniels and the National Finals Rodeo

By Robin Leach

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

It was a special time for country music’s 73-year-old legend Charlie Daniels last night. He celebrated his 50 years of appearances at the National Finals Rodeo, which is celebrating its own 50th anniversary here at the Thomas & Mack Center.

To mark the special double anniversary, the Charlie Daniels Band played “Ghost Riders in the Sky” to open the eighth night of cowboy and cowgirl performances, which our Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons watched from the VIP section. Tonight and tomorrow, you can catch CDB performing at the downtown Golden Nugget.

The sellout crowd of 17,463 went wild for Charlie Daniels. Randy Houser sang the national anthem, and Sabina Peterman performed the Canadian national anthem.

It was a night of world records: Travis Tryan and Cory Petska tied the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s world mark with a team-roping triumph in a blistering 3.5 seconds!

Now only one night remains before tomorrow’s big $5.5 million Wrangler National Finals Rodeo finale. Vegas DeLuxe’s official rodeo photographer Tom Donoghue captured another set of highlight pictures, which we showcase here -- and we invite you to check out all his photos that we’ve assembled from the NFR activities into a souvenir album you can find in our Photo File section by clicking on the navigation button at the top of this page.

We’ll post Tom’s photos over the weekend so you don’t miss any of the final awards ceremonies.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

Last night, 27-year-old Canadian contestant Lindsay Sears won the second 2008 world championship of the NFR when, for the first time, she grabbed the title for barrel racing. Even though she has two more nights to chase down a $43,000 bonus, she’s already racked up $90,324 in winnings here.

Combined, that should top her $119,255 from last year when she finished in second place, and she’s already won a record $275,000 this season -- an all-time women’s record in the category. (For the record, the first NFR contestant to win this time around was Trevor Brazile with his sixth title that we reported HERE Wednesday morning after his Tuesday night showing.)

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