2021 World Champions

Julie Thomas

Julie Thomas

2021 World Champion

Barrel Racer
Hometown:  Ranger, GA                                                AGE:  49

2021 was another stellar year for the assistant school principal and “Amos” as they claimed their second consecutive world title.

“IFR52 was great.  Winning the world championship again wasn’t really a goal that I had set.  I take it month by month and it all depends on how Amos is feeling. I’m very mindful of how many hours he is on the trailer at a time and how it’s affecting him.  Luckily, he’s still enjoying his job and we had a solid finals.”

“When I won the world title in 2020, there weren’t a lot of rodeos to go to and everyone was at every rodeo you went to, so the competition was tough.  In 2021, everything was opened back up and there were a lot of opportunities for everyone to make a lot of rodeos, so that made the competition tough this year as well.”

“My favorite rodeo last year was Corpus Christi, TX, I’d always wanted to go to that rodeo, and I qualified and so did my son, so getting to compete at that rodeo with him was just special.”

“My schedule is very restrictive, and I have to plan my rodeos around my school schedule,” Julie said.  “Because of this, I usually end up traveling by myself, which is ok, it gives me some quiet time.” 

“I’ve already started going to some rodeos this season and plan to go when I can and see how Amos feels.  He’ll tell me when he’s ready to slow down but so far, he’s still all about it.  At the trailer or in the stall he’s very quiet but when you get near the alley, he’s all business and he feeds off the crowds and noise.”

“I’ve got 5 more years at the school before I’ll have my 30 years in and by then the boys will both be out of college.  At my school, they had a “cowgirl day” for me the day I came back after the IFR, it was a lot of fun.”