Winning the IRMCA Mixer Driver Championship once requires an impressive combination of knowledge, precision, safety, preparation, and skill behind the wheel. Winning it two years in a row is something special!
Jon Sheets of imi is the 2026 IRMCA Mixer Driver Champion, successfully defending the title he earned in 2025 and emerging at the top of another competitive field of Indiana Ready Mix Concrete Truck Drivers.
The 2026 competition brought 21 drivers representing seven IRMCA Producer Member companies to Indianapolis for the annual state championship. After completing a written examination, truck inspection assessment, and a 10-station Challenge Course, Sheets earned the highest overall score and his second consecutive trip to the national competition.
Next up, he will represent Indiana at the 20th Annual NRMCA National Mixer Driver Championship during ConcreteWorks 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee.
For Sheets, that opportunity carries meaning well beyond another competition.
"I'm very proud to be representing Indiana at the NRMCA in Nashville, TN, this October. I was born and raised in Indiana and it means a lot to me."
Sheets has spent 12 years as a mixer driver and currently works out of the imi Frankfort Plant, where he drives an Oshkosh mixer truck.
While the IRMCA Mixer Driver Championship puts his abilities to the test in a competition setting, many of the skills being evaluated are the same ones Sheets and other professional mixer drivers use every day.
Mixer drivers play an essential role in the ready mixed concrete industry. Their work requires much more than transporting concrete from a plant to a jobsite. Drivers must understand their equipment, operate safely in changing conditions, communicate effectively, navigate active construction sites, and help ensure concrete arrives where it is needed.
Those responsibilities are reflected throughout the IRMCA competition. For Sheets, preparing for MDC isn't about concentrating on a single obstacle or skill.
"For any [MDC] Rodeo you have to prepare for all of it. I can't say that I focused on any one or two things. I just studied and practiced. You practice all of it every day at work. You just have to translate that to a written test, driving, and inspection."
That everyday experience, combined with dedicated preparation, helped Sheets rise to the top of Indiana's field for a second consecutive year.
The IRMCA Mixer Driver Championship is designed to evaluate the broad range of skills and knowledge required of professional mixer drivers. The 2026 competition began Friday, July 24, with a 50-question written examination at Speedway Indoor Karting.
On Saturday, July 25, competitors moved to Allison Transmission in Indianapolis for the hands-on portions of the championship. Drivers completed a truck inspection assessment followed by a 10-station Challenge Course that tested their ability to precisely maneuver a mixer truck through a variety of scenarios.
Each portion presents a different challenge. When asked which part of the competition was most difficult, Sheets couldn't single one out.
"I can't really say that one part is more difficult than another. They all have their unique challenges. You just have to be prepared as much as you can and adapt to it."
Even the portion he considered his strongest wasn't something he took lightly.
"I don't think there is really an easy part to any of it, but if I have to pick, I would say for me, I guess the easiest part was the written test. I studied a lot of different materials, but still, it's not easy."
That combination of preparation and adaptability proved successful once again. Sheets finished first overall, followed by Justin Laporte of Smith Ready Mix in 2nd place and Armando Madera of imi in 3rd.
For imi, the results meant two drivers from the same company finished on the podium, with Sheets and Madera taking first and third. Even more special for Sheets, the two work out of the same plant.
"I also had a coworker, Armando Madera, who finished 3rd, and that was a lot of fun to be a part of. Two drivers, same plant, 1st and 3rd. Very cool."
The numbers on the scoreboard determine a champion, but Sheets says there is another important part of the IRMCA Mixer Driver Championship that can't be measured in points.
It's the opportunity to spend time with other drivers.
Twenty one competitors arrived representing seven different ready mixed concrete producers, but for one weekend, company names took a back seat to a profession they all share.
"Another big part of this [MDC] Rodeo is all the drivers. It's a lot of fun to talk, joke around with and get to know these guys a little bit and maybe make some friends. That's a big part of it, and all these guys are just good people. We all are doing the same thing, just working for different companies."
That camaraderie is one of the reasons IRMCA continues to host the championship each year.
MDC gives companies an opportunity to recognize some of their most important employees while giving drivers a chance to demonstrate their expertise, represent their companies, build relationships with their peers, and celebrate the profession.
Meet the 2026 competitors, see the complete results, and view and download photos from this year's competition on the IRMCA Mixer Driver Championship page.
This year's MDC also took place alongside the 2026 IRMCA Summer Meeting, creating a weekend that combined industry education, networking, competition, and family activities.
The championship began Friday evening at Speedway Indoor Karting, where competitors completed the written examination while Summer Meeting attendees gathered for an evening of networking, karting, and family fun.
Saturday morning brought the competition to Allison Transmission, one of IRMCA's newest Associate Members.
Allison Transmission provided the location for the truck inspection and Challenge Course, giving drivers, volunteers, and spectators an outstanding setting for the hands on portion of the competition.
Following MDC, Summer Meeting attendees continued to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for an afternoon at the Brickyard 400, concluding a weekend centered around Indiana's concrete community.
Sheets praised the entire experience and the many people who helped make it possible.
"I had a good time and always do. Thank you again to Chad Montgomery and everyone at the IRMCA for an excellent event this year."
He also had support from friends, coworkers, and members of the imi team throughout the weekend, including Madera and his former wife, with whom he remains good friends. The combination of competition and camaraderie made winning his second consecutive title even more memorable.
The Indiana championship may be complete, but Sheets isn't finished competing in 2026. His victory qualifies him to represent Indiana at the 20th Annual NRMCA National Mixer Driver Championship in Nashville, Tennessee this October 2026.
The national championship brings together qualifying drivers from across the country to demonstrate the skill, precision, safety, and professionalism required of the people behind America's mixer trucks.
For a driver who has spent 12 years developing those skills, representing his home state provides another opportunity to put that experience to work.
And when he isn't behind the wheel or preparing for competition, Sheets enjoys a very different kind of precision work: woodworking. Both require patience, attention to detail, and the ability to turn experience into a finished result.
This October, however, his focus will be back on concrete.
NRMCA's ConcreteWorks 2026 takes place October 15-18, 2026, at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville. The 20th Annual National Mixer Driver Championship will take place during the event, with the championship scheduled for Saturday, October 17.
Sheets will arrive representing imi, the Frankfort Plant, IRMCA, and the State of Indiana.
The Mixer Driver Championship shines a spotlight on a profession that is essential to every ready mixed concrete producer.
Mixer drivers are often one of the most visible connections between a concrete producer and its customers. They safely operate specialized equipment, navigate changing jobsites, work alongside contractors and crews, and help deliver the material that becomes Indiana's homes, schools, hospitals, roads, businesses, and infrastructure.
The competition gives those professionals an opportunity to demonstrate just how much knowledge and skill the job requires.
Sheets' back to back victories are an impressive achievement in a competitive Indiana field. But his approach to the championship also captures what MDC is designed to celebrate.
Study the material. Know the truck. Practice the skills. Prepare for everything. Adapt when the challenge changes.
And appreciate the other drivers doing the same job alongside you.
Congratulations to Jon Sheets of imi, the 2025 and 2026 IRMCA Mixer Driver Champion.
Indiana will be cheering you on in Nashville!
The people behind Indiana's ready mixed concrete industry build more than structures. They build careers.
From mixer drivers and plant operations to dispatch, quality control, safety, engineering, sales, technology, and leadership, the concrete industry offers opportunities for people with a wide variety of skills and interests.
Explore Careers in Concrete with IRMCA to learn about career opportunities with IRMCA Member companies and take the next step toward joining the industry.