Denver, Colorado – October 21, 2024
Concrete Delivery Professional Allard Tigchelaar, of CEMEX in Prescott, AZ, earned the top honors at this year’s National Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s (NRMCA) National Mixer Driver Championship. The event was held at the Gaylord Rockies Resort in Aurora, Colorado, in conjunction with NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks 2024. Mr. Tigchelaar took home the “Mullings Cup” and the champion’s check of $6,000. Allard has been driving concrete mixers for 36 years and is a 3-time top 2 finisher in the CEMEX Arizona Rodeo.
Now in its 18th year, this year’s national contest “included the largest group of drivers to ever compete, including the largest group of female drivers,” according to NRMCA’s Executive Vice President of Operations and Compliance, Kevin Walgenbach. One hundred and eleven drivers, which included state rodeo champions, as well as NRMCA member company champions from around the nation, competed to be crowned the “Best of the Best”. Mr. Tigchelaar was selected based on a cumulative score derived from competitions that included stationary and driving challenges, visual vehicle inspection, delivery ticket station and a 2-hour written examination. Awards were presented for the top five finishers. The Truck Mixer Manufacturers Bureau (TMMB) was the premiere sponsor of the event and helped sponsor the driver prize money.
Second place and a check for $3,000 went to Damion Wynter of Ruskin, Florida. Mr. Wynter has been driving for Maschmeyer Concrete for 6 years. Mr. Wynter also placed 3rd in 2021 and 2022, and 2nd place in 2023 for NRMCA’s National Mixer Driver Championships.
Third place and a check for $2,000 went to Garret Lytle with Ozinga, of Munster, Indiana. Mr. Lytle has been driving for Ozinga for 3½ years. He is also the 2024 3rd place finisher of the Indiana Ready Mixed Concrete Association state rodeo.
The fourth place finisher, receiving a check for $1,500, is Mark Nieciecki of Schaumburg, Illinois. Mr. Nieciecki has been driving for Prairie Materials – Votorantim Cimentos for the last 22 years. He drives a rear discharge mixer and operates a broad array of equipment and machinery. He also had a perfect score on the written exam.
The fifth-place finisher, receiving a check for $1,000 is Bill Cook from Thomas Concrete, who lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Mr. Cook has been driving a mixer truck for 20 years. Bill is the 1st place finisher for the 2024 CRMCA South Carolina state rodeo, and the 2nd place finisher for the Thomas Concrete South Carolina Division rodeo.
Also honored at the driver awards banquet were drivers who distinguished themselves at various stages of the competition. Over 100 drivers were recognized for top performances in the Basketball Chute Hoops and Hockey Slap Shot Challenges. As well, there were six drivers this year that made a “hole-in-one” at the Golf Challenge station, which were Greg Burroughs from Husker Concrete, Brian Geohring from Knife River, Mardis Hinton from Silvi Materials, Ramon Ramos-Macias from HM South Texas Concrete, Damion Wynter from Maschmeyer Concrete, and Larissa Zeigler from Silvi Materials. The top scorers of the “Closest to the Egg” station were Christian Gillie from Thomas Concrete, and Garrett Wilkerson from Maschmeyer Concrete. The top scorers at the “Delivery Ticket” station were, tied for second: John Marzalik from Prairie Materials, and Robert Turner from Ernst Concrete. The top performer at the delivery ticket station was Philip Leech from Irving Materials, Inc. (IMI). The popular “Bowling Station” returned to the competition for the 11th year. Six drivers stood above the rest, scoring a strike were Cody Bush from Holcim, Jacob Freiderich from Lyman-Richie (a CRH Company), John Grant from MMC Materials, Jimmy Loggins from Ernst Cobb County, Clyde Trent from Thomas Concrete, and Thomas Wood from Chaney Enterprises. At the “Inspection Station”, tied for second were Brandon Trent from Thomas Concrete, and Clyde Trent from Thomas Concrete; and in first place from Maschmeyer Concrete was Damion Wynter. Unbelievably, eighteen drivers tied for the highest score on the written exam and title of “Smartest Driver in the Room”, all with perfect scores. Finally, taking the top spots on the Driving Challenge Course were, in third place, from Maschmeyer Concrete, Damion Wynter; in second place, from Ozinga, Garret Lytle, and in first place, by outscoring all others with the highest score on the driving course, from Cemex, was Allard Tigchelaar.