Professional Bull Riders

J.B. Mauney won the fourth round of the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals on Thursday night, scoring 93.75 points on D&H Cattle Company’s Crosswired to leave only himself and season leader Guilherme Marchi in title contention.

Mauney, from Mooresville, N.C., earned $25,000 for the victory at Thomas & Mack Arena, his third round victory of the event. He’s the only rider mathematically in contention to catch Marchi for the world championship and the $1 million bonus.

Brazil’s Robson Palermo was second at 92.75 on D&H Cattle’s Hot Stuff, and Mike White of De Kalb, Texas, followed at 92.25 on Lufkin Ranch & Rodeo’s Maverick.

Marchi, the season leader with 14,328.75 points and earnings of $361,474, tied for seventh in the round with an 89.25-point ride on Circle T Ranch & Rodeo’s Outa Da Blue. Mauney is second in the season standings with 10,406.25 points and $323,490.

Mauney leads the four-round event standings with 367.25 points, followed by Marchi at 359.75.

Marchi, second in the world championship chase the past three years behind Justin McBride and Adriano Moraes, is 3,922.50 points ahead of Mauney with 4,500 points still available over the next three days. McBride and Moraes will be retiring from competition on Sunday after making the final rides of their PBR career.

Mauney, the 2006 PBR Rookie of the year, has been successful on all four rides to hold the lead in the average race with four rides left to go over the next three days. A win in the average is worth $250,000.

“Before the Finals, I told everyone I was going to try to win every round,” Mauney said. “I won the first round and kept rolling along since then. That’s what bull riding is all about. When you’re down, you’re down and when you’re up, you’re up. I had him (Crossfire) as my first pick (in the draft).”

Only 12 of the 45 riders were successful as one of the rankest pens of bulls headlined the event.

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