NFR: James helped put the event on map

Thursday, Dec. 4, 2003 | 1:17 a.m.

Barrel racing pits a woman and a horse against three barrels and a stopwatch.

The rider shoots out of an arena tunnel to trigger the clock, then she must navigate a cloverleaf design around two front barrels before speeding to the one at the far end.

Upon circling around it, she must then zip to the finish line. Tipping any barrel adds a five-second penalty to the final time. The event is judged to the hundredth of a second, so don't blink.

Charmayne James, an 11-time world champion who is the most successful female in rodeo history, officially retired from the sport in October.

Horse breeding and training, conducting clinics and continuing sponsor relationships will keep James busy, as will working with Hollywood. She will serve as a consultant to New Line Cinema, which bought the rights to her life story.

In that void, Brittany Pozzi has dominated. A 19-year-old from Victoria, Texas, Pozzi led all other barrel racers this season by winning $79,076. This will be her first trip to the NFR.

James competed in 19. In 1996, Scamper, which James rode during her remarkable stretch of 10 consecutive world titles, became the only barrel horse inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.

Without James' influence, this could be the one wild-card event. In such a circumstance, we're going with longshot Tammy Key, who was either blazing hot or ice cold here a year ago in her first NFR.

Key pocketed $80,617, and only Kelly Kaminski ($82,189) made more during those 10 days in Las Vegas. However, Key's average (16.46 seconds) placed her 10th. With experience and her ornery horse Roundpen, Key should be more consistent this time around.