Bull riding Smackdown set to return to Carson City

The Carson City Smackdown — featuring bull and bronc riding and barrel racing — is returning for the fourth year to Fuji Park at 6 p.m. June 4.

“I’m really excited,” said promoter Manuel Souza. “It’s going to be a great show.”

For the first time, Souza is bringing in a Professional Bull Riding arena to put inside the park.

“The bucking chutes are going to be 60 to 80 feet from the grandstands,” Souza said. “When you’re sitting in the bleachers, you’re going to be looking right down in the bucking chutes. We’re giving you the effect of sitting in an indoor arena watching a rodeo. It’s going to be phenomenal.”

The event has often sold out in the past.

“People like the excitement, they like rodeo,” Souza said. “It’s a great family event.”

As the show has progressed, he said, so has its popularity.

“Just adding broncs has added another flair,” Souza said. “It draws in horse people. It’s like the Wild West.”

The show will feature 30 bulls along with bronc riding and barrel racing. Entertainment will include motorcycles and clowns, in addition to mutton busting for kids and heifer riding for youth.

“We have quality animals, quality riders, quality entertainment and quality announcers — that’s important,” Souza said.

During the rodeo, a check from funds raised during last year’s event will be presented to the Carson City Deputy Sheriff’s Association in honor of the Carl Howell family. Deputy Howell was shot and killed in the line of duty in August while responding to a domestic violence call in Carson City.

Tickets are $10 in advance; $15 at the gate. They are available online at visticarsoncity.com or at the Carson City Visitors Bureau, 716 N. Carson St.; Casino Fandango, 3800 S. Carson St.; Carson Lanes, 4600 Snyder Ave.; and Benson’s Feed, 2750 Highway 50 East.

Souza said people travel from across the state and region to catch the show.

“People plan their trips to Carson City around our rodeo,” he said. “We’ve got a following of people who will come to see their cousins or grandma at the same time they can go to the Smackdown.”

And it’s well worth it, he said.

“It’s fast-paced,” he said. “It just changes — boom, boom, boom. Two hours is done before you know it.”