All Inductees
Bill Minick

"V61" Owner: Bill Minick

Rodeo Animals

V61 was raised by Rudy Vela, an orphan calf that was bottle fed – what was in that bottle, no one really knows – but it helped raise a champion bucking bull. In the fall of 1969, Sloan Williams told Billy Minick he had a bull that was so tough that cowboys wouldn’t get on him anymore. Billy and his father Spot, drove down to Hungerford, TX and picked up V61.

The stock selection for the NFR had been made, so Minick called NFR general manager Clem McSpadden and RCA Bull Riding director Freckles Brown and said, “I bought the baddest bull in captivity and would like to bring him to the NFR”. They said “Bring him!” V61 was bucked 3 times at the 1969 NFR – while other bulls were only bucked twice. He bucked off all 3 cowboys and thus began the legend of V61.

No one rode V61 all year in 1970. He became so famous, he was featured in Life Magazine with Muhammad Ali on the cover. At the 1970 NFR, V61 was named Bull of the Year.

In June 1971, Johnny Quintana rode him on a hot day at Gladewater – scoring 94 points which stood as a PRCA record for nearly a decade. The crowd was so loud that many couldn’t even hear the buzzer. Quintana successfully rode the bull again the next year.

In 1972, V61 bucked so hard he ruptured his scrotum. Minick took him to the Vet Hospital at Fort Collins, Colorado. Paul Harvey gave daily updates on V61 on his popular national radio program.

In the fall of 1973, Bob Watt asked Minick if they could officially retire V61 at the Fort Worth Stock Show in January 1974. Billy accepted, and V61 bucked off Andy Taylor to finish a champion with 930 outs and only 5 qualified rides!

V61 died in the fall of 1975. His head is mounted and hung along with his famous V61 brand on the fireplace of the Minick home in Argyle, Texas.