Mississippi Driver Earns Top Honors at Mixer Driver Championship

Concrete mixer truck driver Jason Nelson from Cleveland, MS, earned top honors at this year’s NRMCA National Mixer Driver Championship. The event was held last week at Red Rock Casino resort outside Las Vegas in conjunction with NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks. Nelson of NRMCA Producer member MMC Materials also earned the champion’s check of $2,500. Nelson has been driving a ready mixed concrete truck for MMC Materials, Inc. for 10 years. He is an NRMCA Certified Concrete Delivery Professional, a MMC Materials driver trainer and currently drives a Mack Granite truck with a Beck rear discharge mixer. He is the 2012 winner and 2013 runner-up of the MMC/Bayou Concrete Annual Truck Rodeo.

Now in its eighth year, this year’s national contest "was an extremely close competition," according to NRMCA’s Senior Vice President of Operations and Compliance Gary Mullings. Forty drivers, which included state rodeo champions as well as NRMCA member company champions from around the nation, competed to be the "Best of the Best". The champion was selected based on a cumulative score derived from competitions that included a driving challenge course, visual vehicle inspection, reaction-time-test, delivery ticket station and two-hour written examination. Awards were presented for the top three finishers, with all other drivers tied for fourth (see www.nrmca.org to view a video of this year's event).

Second place and a check for $1,000 went to Billy Byrd of Wanatah, IN, and NRMCA Producer member VCNA Prairie Material in Bridgeville, IL. He has driven for the company for 12 years, currently driving an Advance quad-axle truck with a front discharge Phoenix mixer. Billy is the reigning two-time champion of the Prairie Material Driver Rodeo. Third place and a check for $500 went to Todd Brown of Grinnell, IA. He has been driving for NRMCA Producer member Manatts, Inc. for 13 years and is currently driving a Western Star, five axle truck with a McNeilus rear discharge mixer. Brown is an NRMCA Certified Delivery Professional and is the reigning three-time Manatts Inc. Company Rodeo Champion.

Also honored at the awards dinner were drivers who distinguished themselves at various stages of the competition. The top scorer of the "Closest to the Egg" station was Harvey Harmon, Concrete Supply Company, Charlotte, NC. Tied for the top score at the Delivery Ticket Station were Chris Harrison, Mobley Concrete, Russellville, AR; Todd Brown, Manatts Inc., Newton, IA; Elvis Reyes, Ferrara Bros. Building Materials, Brooklyn, NY; Jay Seevers, Shelly Company, Marietta, OH and Mark Hall, CalPortland, Las Vegas.

The popular bowling station returned to the competition for the second year. Scoring a spare was Eddie Rieper, Eastern Concrete Materials (a US Concrete Company) and scoring a strike was Todd Brown, Manatts Inc. Newton, IA. Drivers were also tested to determine who had the fastest reaction time in trough computerized testing. The title of "Fastest in the Nation" went to Arthur Johnson, Argos Ready Mix, Southlake, TX. The highest score on the written exam title "Smartest Boy in the Room" went to Eric Brood, CalPortland, Portland, OR. Finally, taking the top spot on the Driving Challenge Course by outscoring all others was the eventual champion Jason Nelson, MMC Materials, Cleveland, MS.

For more information, contact NRMCA's Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org or 301-587-1400, ext. 1161.