Christopher Scholand to Be Among Familiar Faces at North Dakota Truck Driving Championships
The North Dakota Motor Carriers Association is gearing up to host its 29th annual North Dakota Truck Driving Championships, and the competition already is looking stiff.
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Janousek
Last year’s Grand Champion, Christopher Scholand of FedEx Freight, will be returning in a bid to defend his title. While he took home top honors last year in the 3-Axle division, this year he will be switching to 4-Axle. A North Dakota Grand Champion cannot compete in the same class for two years after he won.
Another familiar face on the national stage — John Janousek of FedEx Freight — also will be back. Last year, Janousek was North Dakota’s highest-placing competitor at the National Truck Driving Championships, racking up a seventh-place finish in the Twins division. He will be competing in Twins again this year.
The 2019 National Truck Driving Championships
Qualifiers | Map | Photos | Video
Who: Winners from nine categories at the state level have advanced to the national competition, where a Grand Champion will be crowned
What: Contestants are judged on a written examination and their driving skills
When: Aug. 14-17
Where: Pittsburgh
At the state truck driving championships, sometimes the drivers aren’t the only familiar faces. Mark Wolter, the event coordinator who has run the tournament for 10 years, has been a volunteer since the second year of competition.
A former NDMCA president, Wolter told Transport Topics about the important role volunteers play in the event.
“It takes about 30 volunteers to put on an event like this,” Wolter said. “We’re very blessed to have a group of people that are interested and willing to take an extra day out of their busy schedules to do this event, to volunteer and to help make it a successful event.”
The North Dakota competition will take place June 1 at the Skills and Technology Training Center in Fargo. According to Kacey Heidrich, NDMCA office manager, 49 drivers are scheduled to compete.
