Mauney to Serve as Honorary Starter for the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race

PUEBLO, Colo. – Two-time World Champion J.B. Mauney never got the itch to get behind the wheel of a race car despite growing up in a city home to more than 60 NASCAR teams, auto racing businesses and a slew of drivers, including Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Mauney’s motor simply gets running a lot faster when he has 2,000-pounds of bucking power beneath him inside the bucking chute.

“Nope, never raced,” Mauney said in a message to PBR.com on Friday morning. “It was eat, sleep (and) bull riding.”

Mauney was named one of four distinguished dignitaries for the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race earlier this week.

The cowboy from Mooresville, North Carolina, aka Race City USA, will be the Honorary Starter for the All-Star Race Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

As the Honorary Starter, Mauney will have the privilege of waving the green flag at the start of the 70-lap NASCAR race at approximately 8 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.

“It is pretty cool,” Mauney said.

Legendary motocross racer and former NASCAR driver Ricky Carmichael (Honorary Pace Car Driver), Triple Crown-winning jockey Victor Espinoza (Grand Marshall) and champion trophy truck racer B.J. Baldwin (Honorary Grand Marshall Truck Driver) will be joining Mauney at the track as dignitaries.

Espinoza rode American Pharaoh, arguably one of the most famous animal athletes of this generation, to the horse racing Triple Crown in 2015.

Saturday will be quite the short commute for Mauney. He still lives roughly 20 miles from Charlotte Motor Speedway.

In 2009, Mauney and Shane Proctor helped NASCAR driver Rickey Stenhouse Jr. attempt to ride two bulls for an ESPN feature.

Stenhouse and Earnhardt are two of 20 racers scheduled to compete in this weekend’s primary All-Star race.

Saturday will be Mauney’s second NASCAR race he has ever attended at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Mauney will also make an appearance on NASCAR Trackside LIVE Saturday at a to be determined time.

The 30-year-old has spent his first week off from the Built Ford Tough Series being a busy man in North Carolina.

Mauney has been hard at work on his ranch during calving season and spent all day Wednesday moving 135-head of cattle at the Torres Bucking Bulls ranch up the road in Mount Airy, North Carolina.

The Built Ford Tough Series returns to North Carolina on Oct. 14-15 for the Frontier Communications Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires, in Raleigh.

It will be the first time Mauney has ever competed in Raleigh, which is 150 miles from his hometown.

The PBR hasn’t held a BFTS event in the City of Oaks since 2003.

Mauney is currently third in the world standings and is two BFTS rides away from joining 2004 World Champion Mike Lee and 2008 World Champion Guilherme Marchi as the only riders in PBR history with 500 or more rides at the PBR’s highest level of competition.

The 12-year veteran is only going to compete in three summer events (which don’t count toward the 500-rides record) before the BFTS resumes in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Aug. 11 with the Express Employment Professionals Classic.

Before potentially reaching the milestone in Tulsa, Mauney will attempt to ride current world No. 1 bull Pearl Harbor at the Dakota Community Bank PBR Bull Riding Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour Challenge for $25,000 on June 16.

Mauney will then try to defeat 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis in a $25,000 matchup at the Hometown Dodge PBR Challenge in Vinita, Oklahoma, 24 hours later.

He has selected Cochise for his matchup against Davis.

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko