LAS VEGAS ― He needed every bit of the 93.75 points and aRound 2 win at the World Finals to take a preliminary lead in theworld standings with four rounds remaining, but J.B.Mauney is now the No. 1 ranked bull rider in theworld.
Mauney leads two-time defending World Champion SilvanoAlves by a slim margin of 30.75 points.
Despite being the top rider in the average with 182.5 points,Mauney said he's not looking at the average and he's definitely notworried about the standings with three days left.
"I'm going to keep looking at one bull at a time," said Mauney,who added that everyone was quick to point he's atop the seasonstandings. "Yeah, that's what they just said. I don't feel that waybecause this is a week-long event, so anything can happen. It canchange back and forth throughout the course and what matters iswhen that short round is over Sunday."
Asked if he feels like he's in control of his own destiny, hereplied, "I don't look at it that way."
Mauney won Round 2 with 93.75 points onSmackdown and has a commanding 6.75-point lead inthe Finals average after two of six rounds.
L.J. Jenkins (175.75), GuilhermeMarchi (173.75), Ty Pozzobon (171.75) andSilvano Alves (163.25) round out the Top 5 in theaverage and are the only five riders to have covered their firstpair of bulls at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Mauney moved from second to first in the average, while Alves,who has been the talk of town after turning down a re-ride optionin Round 1 and electing to keep an opening-round score of 73.75points, went from 13th to fifth in only 24 hours.
Alves believes this year's eventual World Champion will need tobe a perfect 6-for-6.
"I need a score on all my bulls," Alves said. "There's nofalling off the bulls. … Yeah, I think, I need to ride sixbulls."
Alves continues to make the point that he does not feel anypressure despite relinquishing the world standings lead for thefirst time since Mauney's brother-in-law, ShaneProctor, took the lead after the 15th Built Ford ToughSeries event of the season in Des Moines, Iowa.
Mauney's second-round effort plays a big role in another worldtitle race as well.
Smackdown was one of three bulls along with Mick EMouse and Shepherd Hills Testedcontending for the World Champion Bull title with bull scores of 46points. As expected, leading the way is Bushwackerwith 46.5 points followed by last year's World Champion Bull Asteroid with46.25 points.
"I can't hardly talk," said Chad Berger, who owns and haulsSmackdown and admitted that his heart was racing afterward. "I wasso happy for J.B., and happy for Smackdown, and real proud of bothof them. I couldn't ask for anything better.
"This is what it's all about right here."
The other two bulls contending for the title areLightmaker's Rango (45.25) and I'm aGangster Too (42.5).
Douglas Duncan rode Bushwacker for 8 seconds,but judges called him for a slap at 3.42 seconds that was upheld byreplays. Mauney was behind the chutes for three consecutive ridesheading into the intermission. He pulled both Duncan andStormy Wing's rope onback-to-back outs.
Wing faced Asteroid and despite some sage advice from Mauney― the only rider to successfully ride Asteroid, Bushwacker andShepherd Hills Tested, came down in 2.37 seconds.
"I thought it went pretty good tonight," said Gene Melton, whohauls Asteroid for Circle T Ranch & Rodeo. "He kind of bouncedoff the corner there a little bit.
"After you get one trip down and it was pretty good, you hopeyou can just do the same thing again."
The top bull contenders will be out again Sunday afternoon inthe Built Ford Tough Championship Round to close out the season andwill likely play as much a factor in crowning the World Champion asSmackdown played tonight in catapulting Mauney to the lead.
There were 11 qualified rides in Round 2. Rounding out the Top 5were Joao Ricardo Vieira (91),who is vying for the Rookie of the Year title, BrantAtwood (90.75), Jenkins (89.75) andAlves (89.5).
VIDEO: Silvano Alves rides Yo Yo for 89.5 points in Round2
Vieira and Atwood both wowed the crowd.
Both are competing in Vegas for the first time and Atwoodbrought the crowd to its feet with the first 90-point effort of theevent when he covered Lightmaker's Rango, and then Vieira did thesame late in the round when he rode Jack Daniel's TennesseeHoney.
However, it was Mauney's 93.75-point effort - the second highestscore of the season ― that captivated everyone as the Thomas& Mack Center erupted upon the score being announced.
"It felt great and I knew I was going to have to try hard onthat bull," Mauney said. "I had rode him a few times and he threwme off a few times and if you stub your toe on him, he's the kindthat's going to make you pay for it and I knew just keep going athim."
"I've been saying it all day," proclaimed Berger. "I even saidit on Flint's show that you're going to see a 93 to 95 point rideon Smackdown. I just knew it with J.B. as hot as he is."
Follow Keith Ryan Cartwright onTwitter @PBR_KRC.
Professional Bull Riders Built Ford ToughSeries
Built Ford Tough World Finals
Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Eventpoints)
1. J. B. Mauney, 88.75-93.75-182.50 points.
2. L.J. Jenkins, 86-89.75-175.75 points.
3. Guilherme Marchi, 87.5-86.25-173.75 points.
4. Ty Pozzobon, 85.5-86.25-171.75 points.
5. Silvano Alves, 73.75-89.5-163.25 points.
6. Joao Ricardo Vieira, 0-91-91.00 points.
7. Brant Atwood, 0-90.75-90.75 points.
8. Cody Nance, 89-0-89.00 points.
9. Kody Lostroh, 0-87.5-87.50 points.
10. Renato Nunes, 87.25-0-87.25 points.
11. Markus Mariluch, 87-0-87.00 points.
12. Eduardo Aparecido, 86.75-0-86.75 points.
(tie). Jory Markiss, 0-86.75-86.75 points.
14. Ryan Dirteater, 86.25-0-86.25 points.
(tie). Valdiron de Oliveira, 0-86.25-86.25 points.
16. Gustavo Pedrero, 0-83.75-83.75 points.
17. Claudio Crisostomo, 83.25-0-83.25 points.
18. Shane Proctor, 81.25-0-81.25 points.
19. Matt Triplett, 80.25-0-80.25 points.
Agnaldo Cardozo, 0-0-0.00 points.
Alex Aparecido Marcilio, 0-0-0.00 points.
Austin Meier, 0-0-0.00 points.
Ben Jones, 0-0-0.00 points.
Billy Robinson, 0-0-0.00 points.
Brendon Clark, 0-0-0.00 points.
Chase Outlaw, 0-0-0.00 points.
Chris Lowe, 0-0-0.00 points.
Douglas Duncan, 0-0-0.00 points.
Edevaldo Ferreira, 0-0-0.00 points.
Emilio Resende, 0-0-0.00 points.
Fabiano Vieira, 0-0-0.00 points.
Jordan Hupp, 0-0-0.00 points.
Lachlan Richardson, 0-0-0.00 points.
Luke Snyder, 0-0-0.00 points.
Marco Eguchi, 0-0-0.00 points.
Mike Lee, 0-0-0.00 points.
Nathan Schaper, 0-0-0.00 points.
Sean Willingham, 0-0-0.00 points.
Stormy Wing, 0-0-0.00 points.
Zane Lambert, 0-0-0.00 points.