CHEYENNE -- Fitting four bareback riders into a town car is hard enough.

Finding a way to squeeze one of them in with a leg up for a 400-mile jaunt takes quite a bit of creativity.

Despite racking up miles in the car all summer, Clint Cannon and Heath Ford still haven't found a way to sleep comfortably in their tiny rig, but they weren't worried about sleep on Tuesday night.

They needed to find a way to get four cowboys -- including Cannon, who had just received 15 stitches in his busted left shin -- from Salt Lake City to the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo.

"The trip last night sucked because there were four of us in a little car," Cannon said. "Me and Heath got in the back seat and Heath had a pillow and I had a pillow and we tied a bandana up across a handle. I hung my foot up in there and hung the other one down over his head.

"We just kind of road that way all the way here. You've got do to what you can and improvise."

Cannon leads the world bareback riding standings and Ford -- a former Central Wyoming College and University of Wyoming cowboy -- is in third.

With the hunt for a gold buckle in full swing, they can't afford to let a kick in the shin slow them down.

"It was kinda funny," Ford said. "I just had a bandana tied up there and just said 'Stick your leg up.' So he had his left leg shoved up in that and his right one draped across my lap.

"There wasn't a whole lot of sleeping that got done, but at least he got to elevate his leg a little bit. We're a team in that deal, trying to win as much as he can, so if he's gotta drape that thing across me to get it to feel good, that's what we'll do."

The quick-thinking treatment seemed to work.

Cannon could feel his stitches stretch during a ride on Wednesday, but he made the whistle for 80 points on City Limits during Wednesday's CFR performance.

The ride put the Waller, Texas, native in the top six in the first go-round and helped him earn a little redemption against an old foe.

"That's an older horse and I actually owed that horse because he bucked me off when I was on my permit in 2002 and bucked me off pretty hard," Cannon said. "And he hurt my brother, so I wanted to get him and I made a good strong ride. I think I can come back and try to win this deal."

Ford, who scored 73 points, will have a tougher time coming back for Sunday's championship round, but the two are finding plenty of success together on the comeback trail.

Ford is looking for his third National Finals Rodeo qualification in four years after missing out on a trip to Las Vegas last year.

And Cannon missed most of last year after having shoulder surgery and finished 2007 in 16th place -- one spot short of making the NFR -- after a car accident forced him to miss the last few weeks of the season.

"I had two years of bad luck and I got to think about a lot of stuff," Cannon said. "So I told myself no matter if I ride good or I buck off, I'm going to be happy and smiling."

With a little success in Cheyenne, they were even able to laugh about the uncomfortable car ride.

Contact sports reporter Eric Schmoldt at (307) 266-0578 or eric.schmoldt@trib.com.