Mauney stays in money

North Carolina is a hotbed for stock-car racing, and it's not the first locale that comes to mind as a breeding ground for bull riders.

Brazil, however, is the birthplace of several of the top competitors in the Professional Bull Riders World Finals.

It might seem odd that standout bull rider J.B. Mauney grew up in Moorseville, N.C., where most NASCAR teams are based. Yet his rides are much more precarious than anything driven by his buddy Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"I don't like to follow the crowd so much," Mauney said after winning Thursday night's fourth round before a sold-out crowd of 18,756 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"I started riding bulls when I was 3," he said, before correcting himself. "Actually, it was a sheep."

That's the closest he's come to making a mistake in the Finals, which started last weekend and run through Sunday afternoon.

The 21-year-old second-year pro has won three of the four rounds and is the last man with a remote -- very remote -- chance of catching runaway points leader Guilherme Marchi of Brazil.

Mauney turned in a 93.75-point ride on Crosswired out of D&H Cattle Co.

It was a rough night for the riders, with only 12 of 45 competitors making it to the eight-second buzzer against the "eliminator" pen.

"He's a strong rider," said Marchi, 26, who tied for seventh in the round. Marchi intends to do better than finishing runner-up for the championship for the fourth straight year.

"I just want to ride all of my bulls," he said. "(The championship) is my dream. I'm close to my dream."

Marchi started Thursday night's fourth round with a chance to clinch the championship to collect a $1 million bonus. He holds a 3,672-point lead over Mauney, and only 4,500 points remain on the table.

Mauney is ready to concede the championship -- but not the Finals title -- to Marchi.

Mauney and Marchi are the only riders to have completed each of their four eight-second rides and are first and second, respectively, in the Finals aggregate standings. The Finals champion wins $250,000.

Mauney already has won $85,000 in the Finals and $323,490 this season.

"I told everybody before the Finals that I was going to win every round," he said, admitting he really didn't believe it would happen. "This has been a real boost to my confidence -- big time. The more you win, the more confident you get.

"I'm just going into each round like its a different bull riding (event)."

Mauney, who started the Finals ranked fourth, is wearing the belt buckle he earned last year by winning the Copenhagen Challenger Tour, a secondary PBR series.

"If I win the Finals buckle, I'll have to trade it for the one I'm wearing," he said. "And then I'll trade the Finals buckle for a world championship buckle when I win that."

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Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0247.