DAYTON, Iowa—The Steel Rodeo Tour will be back in Dayton this Labor Day weekend as the specialty act for the 2021 rodeo. Some might remember this motorcycle act from the 2018 rodeo, where two of the shows had to be cancelled due to excessive rain. This year, he’s hoping for clear skies to better wow rodeo fans. In 2018, it was Anthony Murray who came to Dayton to represent the tour. This year, it’s the big guy.
Kenny Bartram—known as Cowboy Kenny—is an American professional freestyle motocross rider. He now takes his skills to entertain rodeo crowds across the country.
“You see amazing free style motocross, like you watch at the X games,” he said about his show. “I’ll be hanging off the back of the bike and the front of the bike. It’s a high flying act.”
Bartram is from Stillwater, Oklahoma (which is where he gets the nickname “The Cowboy”), who is described as the winningest racer in the FMX. He’s also a video game character. He is featured in the game Crust Demons, which was released on PS2 and Xbox. He has also appeared in the television show and movie Nitro Circus. He is a four-time gold medalist, as well as 2 silver and 4 bronze, in the X Games and Gravity Games as well.
His sport is dangerous. Throughout the years, Kenny has had 22 broken bones, 7 knocked-out teeth, a steel plate in his jaw, and a damaged blood vessel in his brain. Still, he performs his high-flying tricks all over the United States.
According to his Facebook page, “Steel Rodeo is an Oklahoma based company owned by Freestyle Motocross professional and legend, Cowboy Kenny Bartram. Kenny Bartram brings his years of expertise and professionalism, along with other top riders in the industry, to put on action-packed shows.”
Bartram can be found on Instagram at cowboykenny690.
(contributed article and photo, Dayton Rodeo)
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