JT Payne wins Missouri’s SPEC MIX Bricklayer 500 Regional Competition!

JT Payne claims “Missouri’s Best Bricklayer” title.

On September 14^th, 2024, at Midwest Block and Brick in Bridgeton MO, mason JT Payne and tender Jakob Payne with Foeste Masonry took first place and won the Top Craftsman award at the SMBL500 Missouri Regional event. Now they will move forward to compete in the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the World of Concrete Tradeshow! 

 Laying 683 bricks in 60 minutes, the duo topped the competition with a 40+ brick margin above the second-place competitors. This brother duo’s skills and speed won them the “Missouri’s Best Bricklayer” award as well as the Top Craftsman award and secured their tickets to Vegas while winning $800 in cold hard cash for being the regional champion and $500 for the Top Craftsman award.

 The 2024 Regional Series includes 22 events throughout the United States and Canada. To qualify for the SMBL500 event in Las Vegas, teams will compete at one of the 22 individual regionals and battle for first place to secure their spot in the national competition. The teams consist of one mason and one tender; working on a 26-foot-wide wall, they have 60 minutes to lay as much brick as possible with the fewest craftsmanship errors. These teams are only allowed to compete once at one regional event throughout the year, and each duo that wins first place will advance to what is known as the “Superbowl of Masonry.” At the World Championship, they will compete to win part of $125,000 in cash in prizes, including a Chevrolet Silverado 4 x 4 Truck, Kubota RTV-X1130, an Essick Pro12 mixer, and of course, the title, “World’s Best Bricklayer.”

 In Second Place was last year’s winner, mason Rudy Menke and tender Steve Braswell with John J. Smith Masonry Co. laying a total of 640 bricks with no deductions! This feat of strength won them $600.  Third place went to Javier Chacon and tender Shannon Whitmore with John J. Smith Masonry. With 461 bricks laid in the competition, the team won $300 for third place.

Disclosures:

In 2019, the SPEC MIX organization partnered with other masonry associations to create the JR. SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 Competition. In 2024, of the 22 Regional Series competitions, 20 will also hold a JR. BRICKLAYER 500 contest to allow high schoolers and masonry apprentices to compete for top honors and prizes. The program has proven remarkably successful and highly supported by the Mason Contractors Association of America, school administrators, and numerous masonry supply manufacturers and dealers. To learn more, visit https://www.specmix.com/jr-spec-mix-bricklayer-500/.

2025 World Championship: If you are interested in becoming a fan, the 23rd annual SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 World Championship will take place in January 2025, at the World of Concrete tradeshow in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the Las Vegas Convention Center Bronze Lot. At this competition, world-class masons lay it all on the line to claim their portion of the total purse valued at more than $125,000.

2024 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 MISSOURI REGIONAL RESULTS