JT Payne Wins the 2021 Missouri Regional Series

Earns title, “Missouri’s Best Bricklayer!”

Bridgeton, MO – He laid 702 brick in one hour! Mason JT Payne along with his mason tender Jeff Head with Foeste Masonry in Cape Girardeau, MO teamed up to win the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 Missouri Regional Series. Payne beat out 7 other local masons, officially earning his shot to compete on the biggest stage in masonry, the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 World Championship, in Las Vegas at the World of Concrete Expo in January 2022.

This is the third time Payne has qualified for the World Championship, but he has yet to find himself on the winner’s podium, a fact in which he is keenly aware. He said, “We couldn’t be more excited, we wanted TOP CRAFTSMAN and first place, and that’s what we got. We are ready to go win a [Ford] truck, now. We have a few different ways we’re going to do our leads and make them a little straighter out there this year.”

To qualify for the World Championship, hundreds of teams from across North America will battle to win one of 20 individual regional series events, proving they belong on the national stage. Each team, consisting of one mason and one mason tender, will be given an hour to build the tallest and best 26-foot-long brick wall they can, with as few errors as possible. One winning team from each region will advance to compete for over $125,000 in cash and prizes (including a new Ford F-250 4×4 Truck, Kubota RTV-X1140) and the title, “World’s Best Bricklayer,” and/or SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN.

Payne and Head also took the SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN prize, which goes to the mason with the “most-sellable ” wall. All-in-all, they walked away with $1300 and a free ticket to Las Vegas for their efforts in Missouri. The national sponsorship team added more goodies to the prize pool, including a $200 gift certificate from Ford, $200 gift certificate from Blaklader, Stabila levels, and a Marshalltown tool bag and ceremonial trowel.

Second place went to last year’s qualifier, mason Javier Chacon and mason tender Steve Braswell of John R. Smith Masonry in St. Louis, MO with a brick count of 548. For their efforts, the masonry team won $500, a Stabila level and a Marshalltown tool bag and ceremonial trowel.

Third place went to mason Rudy Menke and mason tender Brad Adams of John R. Smith Masonry in St. Louis, MO with a brick count of 477, for their efforts, the team took home $400.

With workforce development being the primary battle cry for the skilled trades, the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 is a tool designed to create interest from a new generation of masons in the rewards and opportunities possible in masonry and construction.

The 20th annual SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 World Championship will be held January 19th, 2022 at the World of Concrete expo in Las Vegas. Prizes total more than $125,000 and include a new Ford F-250 4×4 Super Duty truck, Kubota RTV-X1140, Multiquip Mortar Mixer, and other prizes from IQ Power Tools, Stabila, Marshalltown, STIHL, Blaklader, Iron Age Footwear and Belden Brick

2021 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 MISSOURI REGIONAL RESULTS