There is only one word to describe the competition at Wacker Neuson's Trowel Challenge...SMOKIN'. The competition heated up on Wednesday with Tuesday's once-thought unbeatable times dropping like flies.

During 10:30 a.m. qualifying, "Kid" Scripture took an early gamble to beat yesterday's time and take the top spot from Dave Havey. His early gamble didn't pay off, and he lost nearly 1 second from Tuesday's time, dropping him to the bottom of the top 10 qualifiers.  Undaunted, he came back in the early afternoon session and delivered a nearly flawless two-lap run, finishing with an incredible time of 34:28 seconds.

However, Wednesday's top story wasn't the fresh faces of new competitors. The familiar face of John Dekryger, last year's Trowel Challenge champion, took the headlines. In only 1 qualifying run, John showed the new competition how it's done, taking the top qualifying time for the day with a smokin'-hot 34:06 finish.

A recap of Wednesday's top 10 times...

1. John Dekryger..................................34:06
2. Nick "the kid" Scripture...................34:28
3. Jeff DeGroot.....................................35:07
4. Marty Hefel........................................35:20
5. Phil Kauffman..................................35:32
6. Bruce Gesick...................................35:61
7. Justin Biosvert.................................35:68
8. Tim Dorn...........................................35:70
9. Jody Knockwood.............................35:75
10. Don Smith........................................35:84

Thursday's qualifying times will be after the 10:30 a.m., noon and 1:30 p.m. shows. The top 10 times will advance to the finals, which will be held at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

The top finisher on Thursday takes home the customized CRT 48-35VX ride-on trowel, valued at $20,000, for his company. Will it be one of Wednesday's top 10 or will a new face emerge victorious? Stay tuned....

TROWELMASTER