Irving Materials’ Trent Slaven and Charles Klein finished first and second, respectively, and Cemex’s Jason Dilling third, in the National Mixer Driver Championship, staged with NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks Conference & Expo, October 10-12 in Concord, N.C.
Don Marsh
Source: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.
Irving MaterialsÌ Trent Slaven and Charles Klein finished first and second, respectively, and Cemex’s Jason Dilling third, in the National Mixer Driver Championship, staged with NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks Conference & Expo, October 10-12 in Concord, N.C. They were awarded $5,000, $1,000 and $500 prizes, and led a field of 30 drivers from 21 states representing 18 NRMCA producer members.
Based in northern Indiana, Slaven has spent all 11 of his years as a mixer driver with IMI; he finished third in last year’s National Mixer Driver Championship in Indianapolis and took the 2009 Indiana Ready Mixed Concrete Association driver competition. Klein, who works out of Louisville, has operated a mixer for 12 of his 15 years with IMI, and took the 2010 Kentucky Ready Mixed Concrete Association Rodeo. Dilling has been delivering ready mixed for 11 years, five with Cemex in North Carolina, and took the 2010 Carolinas Ready Mixed Concrete Association Rodeo.
Administered by the NRMCA Operations, Environmental and Safety Committee, the fifth annual National Mixer Driver Championship was based on scores from a 10-challenge course, negotiated in driversÌ choice of a rear- or front-discharge truck and run at the Charlotte Motor Speedway; walk-around, visual mixer vehicle inspection; and, written exam. Like the top three competitors this year, the field is typically drawn from drivers winning state or regional concrete rodeos, along with their company’s annual driving challenges.