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“Challenge of the Champions” film wins 2009 Wrangler award!!
February 12, 2009
“Challenge of the Champions” has won the coveted Wrangler Award for Outstanding
Documentary Film given annually by the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Center.
The "Challenge Of the Champions" celebrates the lives and careers of professional bull
riding's two greatest celebrities: 1987 PRCA World Champion bull rider Lane Frost and
1987 PRCA Bucking Bull of the Year Red Rock. Red Rock was pro rodeo’s most famous
bull who went unridden 311 times before Lane Frost finally rode him in 1988 during The
Challenge of the Champions – a 7-match series.
The film, produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker David Wittkower includes
historical rodeo footage and interviews as well as up-to-date interviews with some of the
people closest to the sports two best known competitors: Lane's parents Clyde & Elsie
Frost, riding partners and friends and rodeo legends in their own right Tuff Hedeman and
Cody Lambert, renowned sportscaster George Michael, stock contractor and owner of Red
Rock, John Growney, PR person for Lane and Red Rock and photographer Sue Rosoff,
writer and journalist Kendra Santos, actor Luke Perry who played Lane in Newline’s 1994
motion picture release “8 Seconds,” and others.
The award ceremony will be held in Oklahoma City this April.
Challenge of Champions
Lane Frost documentary premieres at National Cowboy Museum
By Guy Clifton
ESPN.com
October, 2008
Lane Frost stands alongside the bull Red Rock. Docile in the pen, Red Rocks was one of
the gnarliest bulls of Frost's era. Longtime stock contractor John Growney has a theory
about the late world champion bull rider Lane Frost. "This guy, maybe he was already an
angel," Growney said this week from his home in Red Bluff, Calif. "Maybe he was sent here
to write this story."
It has been more than 20 years since Frost, Growney and his legendary bull Red Rock
teamed up to write one of the great stories in rodeo history, but Growney remembers it like
it was yesterday. It was an idea that came courtesy of the late rodeo legend Jim Shoulders,
who suggested to Growney at a rodeo in Poway, Calif., in 1987 that Growney pit Red Rock,
the newly-named Bucking Bull of the Year in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association,
in a series of match-ups with a top bull rider. When Frost, of Lane, Okla., won the 1987
world championship later that year, it was "a no-brainer" who Red Rock's opponent should
be, Growney said. Frost, who died at 25 in 1989 at Cheyenne Frontier Days after taking a
horn in the back, was as popular a cowboy as Growney had ever met.
Mt. Olivet Cemetery, in Hugo, Okla., is where the Frost Family chose to have Lane buried,
next to his friend, Freckles Brown. "People just gravitated to him," Growney said.
"Everywhere he went, he had this contagious smile and personality and he had time for
everybody." Growney and Frost talked and the Challenge of Champions was born — a
best-of-seven match-up between the two champions that would play out over several
weeks at seven different rodeos in the spring and summer of 1988.
The story of the match-up, which Frost ultimately won 4-3, is the subject of a new
documentary: "The Challenge of Champions: The Story of Lane Frost and Red Rock,"
premiered on Oct. 24 at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma
City, Okla. The world premiere of the documentary kicked off a weekend of public activities,
including the induction of Frost and eight others into the Rodeo Hall of Fame on Oct. 26.
The 80-minute film by Lighthouse Productions is the work of award-winning film maker
David Wittkower, who interviewed numerous key players in the "Challenge of Champions"
duel, including Growney; Frost's parents, Clyde and Elsie; Frost's traveling partners Tuff
Hedeman and Cody Lambert; sportscaster George Michael and several others.
Reliving the scene from 20 years ago was both heartwarming and heart-wrenching for
Growney. Red Rock was the bull that helped establish Growney Brothers Rodeo Company.
"We didn't really have a bull program then," Growney said, who along with partner Don
Kish, is now known for the quality bulls they produce.
In 1984, Growney was approached by Mert Hunking of Sombrero Rodeo Company in
Oregon, who offered to sell him Red Rock, a red brindle bull that had become a local
legend bucking in rodeos around his birthplace in Sisters, Ore. "He said 'I like the way you
take care of your animals,' and he wanted to sell him for $10,000. At the time, $10,000 was
the most ever paid for a bull." Growney asked if he could make payments through the
summer and Hunking agreed. At the time, Growney was amazed at how gentle the bull was
outside the bucking chutes. The story he was told is that Red Rock's mother died when he
was born and the family raised the bull on a milk cow, with the children often feeding him by
hand. Outside the bucking chutes, people could pet the bull, sit on him and pose for
photos. Inside the arena was another matter entirely. In 309 career outs, Red Rock was
never successfully ridden. In 1987, he was honored as the PRCA's Bucking Bull of the
Year. "We bucked Red Rock 50 times the year he won it, 1987," Growney said. "A lot of
guys had a lot of shots at him. Every performance, somebody that was getting on him was
a pretty good bull rider."
In his career, Red Rock bucked off a who's who of professional bull riding, including world
champions Tuff Hedeman, Cody Snyder, Ted Nuce, Charlie Sampson, Cody Custer and
Frost (twice). In fact, Frost would have won his first world championship — and been the
first to ride all 10 of his bulls at the NFR — in 1986, but he drew Red Rock in the 10th
round and was bucked off. Frost wound up third in the world behind Hedeman and Nuce.
The "Challenge of Champions" started at the Red Bluff Roundup and Red Rock continued
his dominance, bucking off Frost in two seconds. A week later in Clovis, Calif., the result
was the same, a quick victory for the bull. The match-up, however, was starting to get
national attention. Sportscaster George Michael was promoting it on his weekly show
"Sports Machine," and USA Today also began covering the series. "I remember picking up
USA Today and opening the sports page and seeing the headline, Lane Frost 0, Red Rock
2," Growney said. "I just thought, this is amazing." Then on May 20, 1988, Frost became
the first cowboy to ever successfully ride Red Rock, doing so in front of a sold-out crowd in
Redding, Calif., on a Friday night. "Redding had never sold out their Friday night, but on
this night, they packed the place," Growney said. "When Lane rode him, they just went
nuts. They just roared. It made history right there and everybody knew they were
witnessing history. For them, they were elated."
For Growney, though, it was bittersweet. "I felt like I'd done something wrong to this bull,"
he said. "He'd gone his whole life without being ridden." Frost rode the bull again a few
weeks later in Livermore, Calif., and for a third time in Red Rock's hometown of Sisters,
Ore., to take a 3-2 lead in their challenge. On the Fourth of July, Red Rock returned to
form and bucked Frost off in St. Paul, Ore., to square the match at 3-3.
The final battle was July 25, 1988 in Spanish Fork, Utah. Frost stayed on for the full eight
seconds to win the Challenge of Champions 4-3. Looking back on it 20 years later,
Growney believes everything that happened was pre-determined.
In 1989, both Red Rock and Frost, who had died the year before, were inducted into the
ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo. "It was almost like it was written in
heaven," Growney said. Red Rock lived until he was 18. He died on June 8, 1994 and is
buried on Growney's ranch in Red Bluff.
February 12, 2009
“Challenge of the Champions” has won the coveted Wrangler Award for Outstanding
Documentary Film given annually by the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Center.
The "Challenge Of the Champions" celebrates the lives and careers of professional bull
riding's two greatest celebrities: 1987 PRCA World Champion bull rider Lane Frost and
1987 PRCA Bucking Bull of the Year Red Rock. Red Rock was pro rodeo’s most famous
bull who went unridden 311 times before Lane Frost finally rode him in 1988 during The
Challenge of the Champions – a 7-match series.
The film, produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker David Wittkower includes
historical rodeo footage and interviews as well as up-to-date interviews with some of the
people closest to the sports two best known competitors: Lane's parents Clyde & Elsie
Frost, riding partners and friends and rodeo legends in their own right Tuff Hedeman and
Cody Lambert, renowned sportscaster George Michael, stock contractor and owner of Red
Rock, John Growney, PR person for Lane and Red Rock and photographer Sue Rosoff,
writer and journalist Kendra Santos, actor Luke Perry who played Lane in Newline’s 1994
motion picture release “8 Seconds,” and others.
The award ceremony will be held in Oklahoma City this April.
Challenge of Champions
Lane Frost documentary premieres at National Cowboy Museum
By Guy Clifton
ESPN.com
October, 2008
Lane Frost stands alongside the bull Red Rock. Docile in the pen, Red Rocks was one of
the gnarliest bulls of Frost's era. Longtime stock contractor John Growney has a theory
about the late world champion bull rider Lane Frost. "This guy, maybe he was already an
angel," Growney said this week from his home in Red Bluff, Calif. "Maybe he was sent here
to write this story."
It has been more than 20 years since Frost, Growney and his legendary bull Red Rock
teamed up to write one of the great stories in rodeo history, but Growney remembers it like
it was yesterday. It was an idea that came courtesy of the late rodeo legend Jim Shoulders,
who suggested to Growney at a rodeo in Poway, Calif., in 1987 that Growney pit Red Rock,
the newly-named Bucking Bull of the Year in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association,
in a series of match-ups with a top bull rider. When Frost, of Lane, Okla., won the 1987
world championship later that year, it was "a no-brainer" who Red Rock's opponent should
be, Growney said. Frost, who died at 25 in 1989 at Cheyenne Frontier Days after taking a
horn in the back, was as popular a cowboy as Growney had ever met.
Mt. Olivet Cemetery, in Hugo, Okla., is where the Frost Family chose to have Lane buried,
next to his friend, Freckles Brown. "People just gravitated to him," Growney said.
"Everywhere he went, he had this contagious smile and personality and he had time for
everybody." Growney and Frost talked and the Challenge of Champions was born — a
best-of-seven match-up between the two champions that would play out over several
weeks at seven different rodeos in the spring and summer of 1988.
The story of the match-up, which Frost ultimately won 4-3, is the subject of a new
documentary: "The Challenge of Champions: The Story of Lane Frost and Red Rock,"
premiered on Oct. 24 at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma
City, Okla. The world premiere of the documentary kicked off a weekend of public activities,
including the induction of Frost and eight others into the Rodeo Hall of Fame on Oct. 26.
The 80-minute film by Lighthouse Productions is the work of award-winning film maker
David Wittkower, who interviewed numerous key players in the "Challenge of Champions"
duel, including Growney; Frost's parents, Clyde and Elsie; Frost's traveling partners Tuff
Hedeman and Cody Lambert; sportscaster George Michael and several others.
Reliving the scene from 20 years ago was both heartwarming and heart-wrenching for
Growney. Red Rock was the bull that helped establish Growney Brothers Rodeo Company.
"We didn't really have a bull program then," Growney said, who along with partner Don
Kish, is now known for the quality bulls they produce.
In 1984, Growney was approached by Mert Hunking of Sombrero Rodeo Company in
Oregon, who offered to sell him Red Rock, a red brindle bull that had become a local
legend bucking in rodeos around his birthplace in Sisters, Ore. "He said 'I like the way you
take care of your animals,' and he wanted to sell him for $10,000. At the time, $10,000 was
the most ever paid for a bull." Growney asked if he could make payments through the
summer and Hunking agreed. At the time, Growney was amazed at how gentle the bull was
outside the bucking chutes. The story he was told is that Red Rock's mother died when he
was born and the family raised the bull on a milk cow, with the children often feeding him by
hand. Outside the bucking chutes, people could pet the bull, sit on him and pose for
photos. Inside the arena was another matter entirely. In 309 career outs, Red Rock was
never successfully ridden. In 1987, he was honored as the PRCA's Bucking Bull of the
Year. "We bucked Red Rock 50 times the year he won it, 1987," Growney said. "A lot of
guys had a lot of shots at him. Every performance, somebody that was getting on him was
a pretty good bull rider."
In his career, Red Rock bucked off a who's who of professional bull riding, including world
champions Tuff Hedeman, Cody Snyder, Ted Nuce, Charlie Sampson, Cody Custer and
Frost (twice). In fact, Frost would have won his first world championship — and been the
first to ride all 10 of his bulls at the NFR — in 1986, but he drew Red Rock in the 10th
round and was bucked off. Frost wound up third in the world behind Hedeman and Nuce.
The "Challenge of Champions" started at the Red Bluff Roundup and Red Rock continued
his dominance, bucking off Frost in two seconds. A week later in Clovis, Calif., the result
was the same, a quick victory for the bull. The match-up, however, was starting to get
national attention. Sportscaster George Michael was promoting it on his weekly show
"Sports Machine," and USA Today also began covering the series. "I remember picking up
USA Today and opening the sports page and seeing the headline, Lane Frost 0, Red Rock
2," Growney said. "I just thought, this is amazing." Then on May 20, 1988, Frost became
the first cowboy to ever successfully ride Red Rock, doing so in front of a sold-out crowd in
Redding, Calif., on a Friday night. "Redding had never sold out their Friday night, but on
this night, they packed the place," Growney said. "When Lane rode him, they just went
nuts. They just roared. It made history right there and everybody knew they were
witnessing history. For them, they were elated."
For Growney, though, it was bittersweet. "I felt like I'd done something wrong to this bull,"
he said. "He'd gone his whole life without being ridden." Frost rode the bull again a few
weeks later in Livermore, Calif., and for a third time in Red Rock's hometown of Sisters,
Ore., to take a 3-2 lead in their challenge. On the Fourth of July, Red Rock returned to
form and bucked Frost off in St. Paul, Ore., to square the match at 3-3.
The final battle was July 25, 1988 in Spanish Fork, Utah. Frost stayed on for the full eight
seconds to win the Challenge of Champions 4-3. Looking back on it 20 years later,
Growney believes everything that happened was pre-determined.
In 1989, both Red Rock and Frost, who had died the year before, were inducted into the
ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo. "It was almost like it was written in
heaven," Growney said. Red Rock lived until he was 18. He died on June 8, 1994 and is
buried on Growney's ranch in Red Bluff.
