From 2006 Rookie of the Year TO...

Maybe the next World Champion? It is what every young bull rider wants, that world champion buckle. And if early showings of true talent mean anything, then young North Carolina cowboy J.B. Mauney is certainly on the right, and fast, track. With two events in the books, he has taken home the top spot two times. And is way out in the lead for qualifier standings, and has a point standing lead of nearly three hundred points over the number two man, 2004 World Champion, Mike Lee. Mauney has also managed to maintain a perfect riding score (100%). Granted there is probably no way he could physically maintain that type of average, but it is certainly the way to start out a season right. The more bulls he stays on top of, the better his chances of putting together winning scores. We may very well be looking at the youngest champion the PBR has ever seen. (He would take that honor away from Mike Lee, who was just barely over 21 when he snagged his. Mauney will still only be 20 when we hit Vegas this fall). This past weekend, Mike took third, and second overall place went to last year's number two overall individual, Brazilian Guilherme Marchi. Guilherme is proving that he doesn't like being shut out of the top spot. Marchi is showing the world that just because he didn't fair so well at the World Finals, doesn't mean we can count him out just yet. Marchi is ranked third in the current standings for the world title race, having stayed up on 7 out of his 8 bulls. The only reason he is ranked behind Lee is that he hasn't put up big scores yet. But watch out Mauney, this guy is gonna ride your tail until he pushes past you for that number one spot. Guess that is one reason to maybe not want to be in the top spot. You've got every other one of the top riders in the world breathing down your neck, wanting to knock you down into second place and take over the lead.