PORTLAND – The Professional Bull Riders invade the Pacific Northwest this weekend with a pair of events on the 34-city Built Ford Tough Series Tour. The PBR stops Friday in the Rose Garden in Portland and then moves on to the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Wash., for two performances Saturday and Sunday.

Guilherme Marchi is making a move on the Tour. The bull rider from Brazil solidified his lead in the point’s standings over Travis Briscoe of Edgewood, N.M., with a win Sunday at the Cabela’s Classic in Kansas City.

Marchi’s 91-point effort against Brandon Gasper Bucking Bulls’ “The Game” sealed the deal for $26,963 and the win on a bull previously unridden in seven BFTS events.

“I come in here and ride my first bull, and ride my second bull and feel real good,” Marchi said. “My last bull felt real good and I drew good bulls this week.”

Kansas City marked the first tour win this season for Marchi and opened up his lead to 361.75 points over Briscoe in the race for the world title.

“I’m not aiming at the world title this time, just focusing on every event one weekend at a time,” he said. “I’ve experienced what can happen to a lead in the world standings at the PBR World Finals, so I’m taking it one event at a time and will let the chips fall where they may.”

Briscoe had the early lead this season and says he’s not worried about the standings right now as they head into Portland Friday.

“I really can’t complain about the season I’ve been having,” he said. “I’m making a little money and having fun doing it.”

Briscoe says the PBR season is long and there is a ways to go in the race for the world title.

“This year they even added a few more events, so it’s just going to be who is healthy at the end of the year,” he said. “Guilherme has been the reserve world champion three times in a row now, so I wouldn’t mind seeing him win it, but then that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to win it.”

Briscoe says he’s looking forward to the Northwest this weekend because of the broad PBR fan-base.

“If you go to a rodeo, then you’ll see a bunch of cowboy hats. But, in the PBR, you don’t see that many cowboy hats because our fan-base is all over. It reaches every generation and every type of person.”

NOTES: Shane Proctor won the 2008 Toughest Cowboy championship at Columbus, Ohio. Proctor, who now calls Powell, Wyo., home, was one of four finalists competing in the championship event. Each contestant had to compete on six head of stock – two bareback horses, two saddle bronc horses and two bulls – all in the same night to determine the 2008 Toughest Cowboy.

“People think that bull riding is my strongest event, but actually it was my bronc riding that was most consistent,” he said. “Usually my weakest event is bareback riding, but when it came down to the finals, that was the event that saved me.”

Proctor, who was awarded the deed to a ranch outside Pueblo, Colo., and the iron glove trophy for being crowned the 2008 Champion in a series of events, where the cowboys compete in all three rough stock events.