News & Press

Herb Houston of South Carolina has been named the Grand Prize Winner of the MotorCrush 100K Sweepstakes.

The public announcement came at the IMSA Northeast Grand Prix—part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series—on Saturday, July 20, 2019, at Lime Rock Park just before 10:00am. MotorCrush users and Grand Prize-hopefuls were able to tune-in via Instagram Live to hear the winner’s name, but only one of them went home with a modified Nissan GT-R valued at $70,000.

Houston, who had been contacted prior to the event and was flown-in the day before, accepted the keys. “When I received the news, I asked myself, ‘Is this for real?’ There was disbelief, coupled with a lot of excitement,” he said. “I was sworn to secrecy up to this point, but now I can finally share this with my friends, family, and the MotorCrush community.”

Shortly after Houston got behind the wheel, he was asked to slide over to the passenger seat as professional sports car champion and ALIVE® founder Andy Lally took him out onto the track to show Houston the full capabilities of his new ride. The GT-R is outfitted with a 3.8L twin-turbo V6 engine, 6-speed dual clutch, and 480 horsepower—all wielded with the expertise of a pro driver.

The experience, and the car, were made possible thanks to MotorCrush’s partners, Lockton Motorsports Insurance® and Lime Rock Park, as well as the hard work of their build contributors, including:

• K&N® Filters
• Motul
• Designer Wraps
• Committed Service Brand

And of course, J-Tune Performance—winner of the Delaware 2019 Top Rated Local® Auto Shop. The GT-R’s extensive list of modifications and upgrades can be viewed on its MotorCrush profile.

The app serves to connect enthusiasts to all aspects of the motoring community. For Houston, this is what drew him to MotorCrush. “I’ve been into cars almost my whole life,” he said, “and grew up in kind of a thriving car culture where there was always a lot of events going on. My Dad used to lead organized racing. Bur since I have been raising a family in a very rural community, it’s all kind of removed. So when I saw MotorCrush, I thought, let me check this out, and was able to post my car on there and interact with other enthusiasts in spite of the distance.”

Houston has been working on the transmission of his daily driver, a 1970 Pontiac LeMans, so it can go further distances. Because of this he is only able to go to about one car show a year. With his new GT-R, however, he sees it as a literal vehicle that will get him out to those events.

But first things first. “I live in South Carolina, so I am anticipating that I’m going to be driving it home. And that will be a big learning experience because I’ve never even seen a GT-R before. So the first one I ever see will be one that I own.”  Houston said his number one priority after leaving Lime Rock Park will be to show the GT-R to his father.

The sweepstakes, which ran from November 1, 2018 to May 15, 2019, may be over, but there is more to look forward to from the ALIVE Team. In the fall, Lally will be taking the six recipients of the Andy Lally Track Day for a ride of their own. The Team also plans to host sweepstakes for ALIVE’s two other products: Track Rabbit and Awesome Joe Auctions.