Mauney Treating Nampa like Last Opportunity to Get to Finals
By: Justin Felisko
October 19, 2018
J.B. Mauney is currently ranked No. 32 in the world standings with one regular season premier series event left before the PBR World Finals. Photo: Andy Watson/BullStockMedia.com.
NAMPA, Idaho – Two-time World Champion J.B. Mauney has only two bulls – and possibly three if all goes to plan this weekend – to solidify a 13thconsecutive trip to the PBR World Finals.
The stakes are extremely high as Mauney heads to Nampa, Idaho, for the DeWalt Guaranteed Tough Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires.
It’s the last regular season premier series event, and Mauney has only created that much pressure for himself by deciding not to enter any other regular season Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour or Touring Pro Division events between now and the Finals.
Mauney is going all-in this weekend, and he is betting on himself.
The No. 32-ranked bull rider is still in a relatively good position to make the World Finals. He leads No. 36 Brock Radford by 59.16 points and is still ahead of No. 33 Lonnie West, No. 34 Gage Gay and No. 35 Marcos Gloria.
However, Mauney could still fall closer to the wrong end of the Top 35 depending on how things shake out in Nampa with eight riders outside of the Top 35 competing.
Gloria could also pass Mauney depending on how well he does at the PBR Canada Monster Energy Tour event in Edmonton on Saturday night.
Mauney knows things are tight, so why not enter the Velocity Tour event in Colorado Springs, Colorado, next weekend or Cody Nance’s Touring Pro Division event in Jackson, Tennessee?
“I am putting all my eggs in the basket this weekend,” Mauney said. “Just need 24 seconds and I will be alright.
“I figure I always perform better under pressure, so why not put more pressure on myself? I like putting pressure on myself. If I don’t feel like I have pressure on myself, it seems like I kind of relax too much. I am just going to go and tell myself in my head and that if I don’t go win, then I am not going to make the Finals.”
Mauney has said repeatedly the past few weeks that there has not been any pressure on him as he flirts with the cutline.
He admitted Tuesday that pressure is certainly there now with only two bulls guaranteed before the World Finals.
“There is, but I am not too worried about it,” Mauney said. “I will deal with it the same way I always have. Nod my head and let it all hang out.”
Mauney will likely need to go a perfect 3-for-3 to earn the victory in Nampa. The 31-year-old has not ridden three bulls at one event since the season-opening Monster Energy Buck Off at The Garden in New York.
Mauney has begun four of the past six events with a qualified ride, only to buck off in the next round.
“Sunday (in Greensboro, North Carolina) I was doing the same thing I have been doing,” Mauney said. “Left kind of sitting flat and I wasn’t as aggressive as I was supposed to be. All it boils down to is I was thinking about how I need to leave the bucking chute instead of taking my wrap, nodding and then going.”
The Mooresville, North Carolina, cowboy has drawn Wolf Cry (6-3, PBR UTB) for Round 1 on Saturday night at the Ford Idaho Center.
Mauney will not be looking at the draw until he arrives on Saturday.
“I also noticed that I have been looking on Wednesday to see what I have drawn,” Mauney said. “I have never done that before in my entire life. This week I am not looking at shit. I won’t know what I have until I get to the bull riding that night.”
It will likely take a perfect storm for Mauney to drop out of the Top 35, but there are still clouds in the sky for that possibility.
A Nampa victory would also tie Mauney with two-time World Champion Justin McBride for the most event wins in PBR history (32).
“I think he can go to Nampa and do some good and pick up some more points and be OK, but by not going to those others he is going to allow those other guys to try and overtake him,” McBride said. “If he was there, he could maybe keep them from him.”
One consolation for Mauney if things do go completely haywire and he falls out of the Top 35 or drops to that 34 or 35th spot this weekend is that the PBR Competition Committee has approved invites to active World Champions with provisional status for the Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour Finals.
This applies to Mauney, three-time World Champion Silvano Alves, 2008 World Champion Guilherme Marchi, 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis and 2017 World Champion Jess Lockwood.
Will Mauney ride at the South Point Hotel Casino & Spa on Nov. 2-3 if he is facing the brink of elimination?
“It depends on how I am feeling,” Mauney concluded. “If I am not making the World Finals, I don’t give a shit how I am feeling, and I will go.”
Mauney just doesn’t plan to be in any situation to have to.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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