Mauney closes in on Marchi with two consecutive wins
PUEBLO, Colo. (September 22, 2008) - For some, 3 times 2 is 6, but for J.B. Mauney, it’s exponentially higher.
It’s more like 1,247.50, which is the number of points the North Carolina cowboy has cut into Guilherme Marchi’s lead in the past two weeks.
Mauney has two event wins in 2008 - this past weekend in Jacksonville and the week before in Grand Rapids - largely because he’s managed to cover his last six rides.
“As long as we can keep it rolling and having fun,” he said after winning his second event.
This is only the second time this season Mauney has covered more than four consecutive bulls. In fact, in 28 events so far, he’s managed only one streak of four, a trio once, and back-to-back qualified rides six times.
In spite of his “off” season, the 21-year-old has been a perennial Top 5 rider, and a year after riding round-for-round with eventual World Champion Justin McBride and three-time runner up Guilherme Marchi, he finally seems poised to contend for a world title.
Marchi has dominated the competition, but of late the Brazilian has been struggling. Since last winning in Edmonton, he has ridden in just one short go in the past four events.
Although it initially seemed as though none of the top riders were positioning themselves to take advantage of Marchi’s buck offs, Mauney has ridden all three of his bulls in the past two events, and obviously the consistency has paid off.
“I’m trying to do it,” he said, “not paying attention to them points. I just go out and ride bulls.”
In 28 events Mauney has two wins, nine Top 5 finishes and ten Top 10 finishes.
Right now he’s healthy – Mauney hasn’t suffered any substantial injuries, but has been battered and bruised all season due in no small part to a separated shoulder and a sprained MCL – and, more importantly, he’s upped his riding average to 58.4 percent and moved into third place in the world standings.
This coming weekend, Mauney will travel to Oakland for the 28th of 32 stops on the Built Ford Tough Series.
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