To mark a milestone, the 20^th year of the Rush Enterprises Tech Skills Rodeo, the event went on the road, returning to Nashville, Tennessee, where it all began. With the 2025 competition awards totaling nearly $300,000, Rush eclipsed $3 million in prizes and awards over the two decades. 

Jody Pollard, Rush Enterprises senior vice president of truck sales and aftermarket sales, and also chairman of the Rush Rodeo committee, explained during opening night that returning to Nashville for the 20th anniversary was challenging and that the planning process began four years ago. See, typically, the Rush Rodeo is every December in San Antonio, Texas, not far from Rush Enterprises' headquarters in New Braunfels. With that as a very familiar routine, he described the annual San Antonnio event as plug-and-play. 

For 2025, the event was 14 hours from home at an unfamiliar venue, and Pollard said it was the committee's behind-the-scenes work that made it possible.

Rush Rodeo: From 2006 to 2025

When Rush Enterprises held its first Rodeo, it was open only to technicians. Pollard explained to the audience of hundreds in attendance this year how, back then, there were only 80 attendees at the awards banquet, and the company gave away $40,000 in cash and prizes.

The competition has grown and now includes parts people, aftermarket sales, truck sales, service personnel, including, of course, technicians.

To qualify, Rush Enterprises employees take online tests, and those with the top scores advance to compete in person at the annual event, held each year just two weeks before Christmas. For Rush, 2025 was a record year for participation. About 2,600 employees took around 4,000 tests.

“That is a record-breaking amount of participation at Rush Enterprises. We're extremely excited about that,” Pollard added.

But a large event like the 2025 Rush Tech Skills Rodeo comes with a hefty price tag, and this year’s cost hit $3 million. 

However, that high price is not shouldered by Rush.

“I don't know if y'all know my boss, but when we talk about the budget every year, he's always very conscientious about the cost. He wants to put on the rodeo. He wants to recognize the talent with that organization, but he wants to be extremely frugal and responsible with how we use the company's money,” Pollard said. “But the truth of the matter is, our suppliers 100% sponsor this rodeo. That's amazing.” 

Technicians and others compete in a first round, and then those winners advance to a second day of competition. For the ones who do not make the cut to be a finalist, the second day is not wasted. They spend time in training sessions with suppliers.

And after two days of competition, all await the results at the final night’s award dinner. Winners in each division are recognized, and then one is crowned All-Around Grand Champion.

Third Time’s A Charm

ForDom McConnell, All-Around Grand Champion at the 2025 Rush Enterprises’ Tech Skills Rodeo, this was his third Rodeo. The 26-year-old technician at Rush Truck Centers – Orlando South first competed two years ago and returned last year.

But 2025 was his year.

For McConnell, it all came together, but he also knew how to approach the competition. The event is not just about making a repair or doing it as quickly as possible. It is about showing you know the proper steps along the way and truly understand what you are doing.

“I just really made sure that I was crossing my T's, dotting my I’s on everything I could. The first couple of times I came here, I was focused more on fixing the truck as fast as possible rather than following the procedures correctly,” he said. “These procedures are ingrained in my mind by now, but I need to make sure the judge knows that I know that. So, this year, I made sure to just tell him every single thing I was doing. And I guess it worked out.” 

So, did anything help him stand out and rise ahead of the competition?

“I guess just really being passionate about it every day, and making sure that every day you're learning something new, you're never doing the same,” McConnell explained.

What advice does the recently-crowned All-Around Grand Champion have for early-career technicians?

“I was just talking to a young man, I mean, I'm young too, but younger than me, earlier this week, about the biggest thing is just read, read, read and just absorb that knowledge so that when you're working on a truck, you're not taking just a guess,” McConnell said. “You're taking an educated guess based on what you know from the information. And you can say, ‘You know, this is most likely the issue.’ Let me dive straight into that, so that you can get the truck fixed as fast as possible and as efficiently as possible.”

McConnell is soon to be married, in a matter of days. Even that is connected back to the 2024 Rush Rodeo. He proposed to his now fiancée a year ago along the San Antonio Riverwalk while they were in town for him to compete in last year’s Rodeo. And, she said yes.

Rush Rodeo Champions

Rush also presented awards to Reserve Champions, the second-place finishers in each division or category, and the Grand Champions, the top person in each category.

Those awarded included:

2025 Grand & Reserve Champions

• Steven Nace, Rush Truck Centers – Smyrna, Grand Champion Truck Sales

• Ryan Summers, Rush Truck Centers – Denver, Grand Champion Aftermarket Sales

• Eric Valenzuela, Rush Truck Centers – Joliet, Grand Champion Parts

• Dom McConnell, Rush Truck Centers - Orlando South, Grand Champion Medium-Duty Service

• Nat Dixon, Rush Truck Centers – Joplin, Grand Champion Heavy-Duty Service

• Francisco Ferrara, Rush Truck Centers-Greeley, Reserve Grand Champion Aftermarket Sales

• Aaron Van Straten, Rush Truck Centers – Houston Northwest, Reserve Grand Champion Parts

• Joe Behrend, Rush Truck Centers – Idaho Falls, Reserve Grand Champion Medium-Duty Service

• Paul Crawford, Rush Truck Centers – Haines City, Reserve Grand Champion Heavy-Duty Service 

Rising Star Division Winners

Rush Enterprises also holds a Rising Star competition for the service technicians with less than two years of experience. Rather than troubleshooting and repairing a truck like the other technicians, the Rising Star technicians move from one station to the next, taking on a series of challenges.

Rising Star winners for 2025 included:

• Dan Paquette, Rush Truck Centres of Canada – Sudbury, 1^st place

• Jamie Graham, Rush Truck Centers – Waco, 2^nd place

• Riley Youngblood, Rush Truck Centers – Fort Worth, 3^rd place

Body Shop Competition Winners

Just as in other years in San Antonio, body shop technicians competed off-site in a body shop at a nearby Rush Truck Center.

Winners were:

• Larry Edwards, Rush Truck Centers – Richmond, 1^st place Body Repair

• Rich Uzialko, Rush Truck Centers – Haines City, 2^nd place Body Repair

• Daniel Garcia Gonzalez, Rush Truck Centers – Salt Lake City, 1^st place Body Paint

• Trevor Powell, Rush Truck Centers – Richmond, 2^nd place Body Paint