Competition is heating up in this year’s State TDCs
Jason Damron still has a few weeks before the Kansas Truck Driving Championships take place the last weekend in June. Reviewing his preparations for his TDC during a conversation with PodWheels in mid-March, Damron noted that one of the motivating moments in his preparations for this year’s event can actually be traced back to last year’s State TDC, held at the Kansas Star Casino Event Center in Mulvane.
Like all State TDC competitors across the country, Damron had met the entry requirement of driving safely without an accident or incident for the entire year prior to his TDC. He had studied for the written test, and he had thoroughly trained for both the pre-trip inspection and the driving skills competition.
On the day of the 2025 Kansas TDC, Damron went out and did his best.
Looking back that June day, all that was left for Damron and his fellow competitors was hearing the announcement of the awards and finding out who earned a spot as a qualifier for the National Truck Driving and National Step Van Driving Championships (NTDC). While the announcement portion of the TDC may vary from state to state, the presentation of awards traditionally spotlights each of the nine driving divisions, with the trophies handed out in reverse order of third, second and then first.
Damron and all the competitors in Kansas — as well as everyone at state TDCs across the country — can always feel the drama of the trophy announcements every year, especially when you consider that the nine vehicle division champions are the only competitors from each State TDC who advance to the NTDCs.
A previous state champion and veteran competitor at the Nationals, Damron knew prior to last year’s announcement in the Kansas TDC 5-Axle division that he wanted his name to be the last announced. Not long after the third-place trophy went to Nick Spilman of Walmart, Damron learned that his TDC season as a competitor would come to an end with a second-place finish in the Kansas 5-Axle field.
After the post-event photos and congratulating 5-Axle State Champion Eric Moss from FedEx Freight on punching his ticket to NTDC 2025 in Minneapolis, Damron decided to learn his score, to see how far away he was from a fourth run at Nationals.
For Damron, this was the first step in his preparations for 2026.
“I missed making it to Nationals by two points,” Damron said. “I probably would have been better off not knowing how close I was to getting it, but that’s the competitive streak.
“Knowing my score just shows me what I need to work on for next year,” he continued. “My first thought was, ‘Wow, that’s one test question!’ That’s how close this competition can get.”
Damron’s next step to prepare for the 2026 State TDCs in Kansas actually called upon the expertise he had gained over the past few years as a member of the Organizing Committee with Safety Drive For A Cure, an NTDC-style charity fundraising event that benefits the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. The mid-March competition, featuring all the vehicle classes at state and nationals, has become the premiere testing ground for aspiring state and national champions.
Trucking veteran and America’s Road Team Captain Herschel Evans has shepherded the continual growth and development of Drive for a Cure, a truck rodeo that benefits the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. This event celebrated its 15th year in March by hosting the largest field in the history of the event with over 250 drivers. According to Evans, Damron has become an invaluable member of the Safety Drive Team.
Even though he wasn’t competing, Damron took part in NTDC last year.
Last summer, as Damron was considering how to stay connected with NTDC, he called on his Safety Drive experience to offer his time and talents as a volunteer for the 2025 national competition in Minneapolis.
“Part of what you miss is the camaraderie and brotherhood we have at Nationals,” recalled Damron of narrowly missing the cut as a state champion. “I knew that NTDC always puts out a call for volunteers, and I had never volunteered at Nationals. So, I applied and they got me a spot as an equipment handler. I went up to Minneapolis, and I loved every bit of it.
“As a volunteer, you don’t have that pressure you feel as a competitor. Also, with the volunteers that came to Minneapolis, I happened to know quite a few of them and we worked well together,” he continued. “It’s long hours, but to put on a National Truck Driving Championship is just like Safety Drive For A Cure. It takes a lot of volunteers and hard work to get it done.”
Damron also took advantage of the opportunity to have a different perspective on the competition, carefully observing and gaining knowledge that he can use at this year’s State TDC.
“As an equipment handler, I got to watch top-notch national champions, grand champions and past champions from previous years. That experience alone is invaluable to me,” Damron said.
“It helped in knowing where I needed to improve. Being able to see how somebody approaches a problem and their thought process is helpful,” he continued. “So, if you’re a driver out there and you’ve never volunteered at a TDC, I urge you to go do it because you can learn a lot.”
Safety Drive 2026 was one for the record books.
At Safety Drive 2026, Damron was easy to pick out of the group of volunteers onsite at the UPS Smart Hub in Atlanta — he was wearing the red safety vest he’d received as a volunteer at NTDC 2025. Damron, who earned a position in January as one of the America’s Road Team Class for 2026-27, had plenty of support, with more than 20 of his fellow Road Team Captains onsite as the ATA’s Image Trailer made the trip to Atlanta.
“It truly is an honor to be selected as an America’s Road Team Captain, and it was great to have so many Road Team Captains here supporting this event,” observed Damron.
“I believe it’s been eight years now for me working on Safety Drive,” he continued. “I’m always blown away and amazed at how the trucking community and its partners come together for one day to raise so much money for these children and their families fighting this nasty disease called cancer.”
This year’s Safety Drive was a record-breaker on several fronts. In addition to the largest field in the event’s history, Safety Drive 2026 broke the record for fundraising in a single year, topping $75,000. Meanwhile, the grand total of all fundraising over the 15-year history of the event is now projected to reach the $500,000 mark before the Safety Drive 2026 campaign closes in September. To learn more about this year’s fundraising campaign, click here.
“The sense of accomplishment is something that it’s hard to relate, knowing that all these volunteers come together for Safety Drive,” said Damron of the annual event that is planned over the course of the year prior to its date on the calendar.
“I think of all these kids and families that we help and all this money that we have raised through the help of all of our fellow drivers and companies,” he said. “I can’t wait till next year to see if we can surpass and beat the records that we have set.”
2026 State TDC Notes: Strong Momentum & Early Success For UPS
As of the first weekend in May 2026, nine states had completed their respective TDCs. Team UPS has already earned eight vehicle division titles and two State Grand Championships in the first few weeks of the nationwide competition to see who will qualify for NTDC 2026 in Pittsburgh.
Prior to the official start of State TDC Season in late March, Paul Barnes from UPS may have helped to set the early trendline for state success, bringing home the Grand Champion’s crown at Safety Drive for a Cure after winning the event’s Sleeper Class title.
Barnes, the 2025 Illinois State Champion in Sleeper, is returning for his final TDC season before retiring later this year. He says he’s inspired by his teammates and motivated to seek out a memorable last TDC chapter after falling just one point short of the fifth and final spot in the championship drive-off portion of NTDC 2025.
“For me, this (Safety Drive) is a kickoff to the TDC season, and this is Step 1,” Barnes told PodWheels in a feature segment on his Grand Champion win at Safety Drive 2026. “We’re all preparing to go to our states and compete in the TDCs. I’ll be retiring from UPS at the end of the year. This was a good start for me. We’ll just keep on training and hopefully be able to bring some more hardware home.”
After finishing third in the 5-Axle during the Arizona TDC in 2025, Nate Voss, another veteran UPS driver, had his sights set on returning to Nationals when Arizona held the 52nd edition of its State TDCs in late March. Voss, who was a part of NTDC 2024, shined throughout the day this year in Tempe, winning the 5-Axle division before earning his career-first State Grand Championship trophy.
“I felt prepared and confident,” Voss told PodWheels during an interview segment that looked back on his State Grand Championship victory.
“There are always some nerves, but I felt calm about what I was doing. I was confident in my answers on the test,” he said. “I also felt really good with my pre-trip and in my driving on the course. I knew I really had something in my performance and what I did that day.”
While Voss was thrilled to return to Nationals, he was not expecting to be called as the winner of the Arizona Grand Championship.
“They called my name, and I couldn’t believe it. I’m thinking, ‘No way, no way,’” he recalled. “How did I do that? It’s an amazing feeling, but I am still in disbelief. ‘Did I really win grand champion against other champions who have done fantastic at Nationals?’ I have to pinch myself. Is this real?”
When Voss gets to Pittsburgh this August for NTDC 2026, he will be in the 5-Axle National field alongside Alfonso Pedregon from California. A UPS teammate of Voss, Pedregon claimed the Grand Championship for the Golden State after winning the 5-Axle category.
2025 Grand Champion David Comings returning to NTDC 2026
When North Dakota held its State TDC May 9, all eyes were on FedEx Freight’s David Comings, who became the first professional driver in North Dakota win the title of NTDC Grand Champion with his victory in Minneapolis last August. As North Dakota’s 5-Axle champion the past two years, Comings had to attempt to qualify for the 2026 Nationals in a different classification because of the back-to-back victories.
Entering this season, Comings chose 4-Axle as his new vehicle class — and he made the most of his trial run at Safety Drive 2026, winning the championship and earning the award for the best test score in the pre-season competition.
At the North Dakota State TDC in Fargo, Comings not only won the 4-Axle division, but he also earned his second consecutive State Grand Champion’s award. Comings’ victory in Fargo became his fifth consecutive berth as a qualifier for the Nationals.
During his preparations for the North Dakota TDC, Comings joined PodWheels for an in-depth conversation that was led by two-time NTDC Grand Champion Roland Bolduc. The interview brings listeners inside the process of preparing for the competition and the indelible impact that the NTDC program has made over its nearly 90-year history to promote the highest levels of safety on the nation’s roads.
The road so far: Results from completed 2026 State TDCs
PodWheels has been working to compile the list of the first-, second- and third-place finishers in all categories at each of the State TDC competitions. In addition, PodWheels is sharing a list of other awards, including Grand Champion, Rookie of the Year and Best Team, presented by the State Associations reporting their TDC results.
The following is the list of states that have completed their TDCs as of the weekend of May 2. PodWheels also has the results from the May 9 North Dakota State TDC; click the links for the results.
Featured podcast
In this episode of the NTDC 2026 podcast, PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson shares his interviews with Mike and Ramon that were recorded in March onsite during Safety Drive For A Cure 2026 in Atlanta. You’ll have the opportunity to hear the dedication to safety that is held firmly by Mike and Ramon, and they each talk about what brings them back ready to go into TDC Season year after year.
Greg Thompson is an award-winning writer and producer who has worked in the trucking industry in a variety of roles since 1998. With more than a decade’s worth of experience as a journalist prior entering trucking, Greg is the founder and executive producer of PodWheels.com, a podcast network dedicated to spotlighting the trucking industry.
Since 2019, PodWheels has provided specialized coverage of the National Truck Driving and National Step Van Driving Championships.
In 2025, PodWheels’ NTDC Series earned the honor of being named the official podcast of the National Championships by the American Trucking Associations, which hosts the annual nationwide competition.
During 2025 alone, PodWheels produced some 100 episodes and provided over 50 hours of podcast content highlighting the competitors, organizers and volunteers involved with the Truck Driving Championships at both the state and national levels. PodWheels’ coverage of the NTDC, including state competitions and other features, is available through RoadToNTDC.com.
