Jeff Morgan of Bullz-Eye.com recently attended the US GT Academy finals and shared his experience of the event!
Video game tournaments are notoriously boring affairs. As fun and addictive as I find many games, watching someone else play those same games is the entertainment equivalent to watching my grandparents play bridge. The mind-numbing effect of spectating a game tournament is only multiplied when the viewer doesn’t know the game, as was my situation at the US GT Academy finals this week. As I mentioned to the rest of the media at the event on Wednesday afternoon, I haven’t picked up a Gran Turismo title since GT2 and I wasn’t any good at that game, anyway.
But this event wasn’t for me (shocking, I know). It was for the 32 competitors – mostly young guys with a couple of standouts – who had bested some 53,000 other drivers in an online Gran Turismo 5 tournament and now stood a chance at winning a trip to Silverstone, entering the next phase of the GT Academy competition, the outcome of which could dramatically change their lives. In part, that’s what sets GT Academy apart from other video game tournaments. In most cases, the winners walk away with a new gaming rig or an oversized check, but it’s rarely the sort of thing that dreams are made of. In the case of GT Academy, virtual racing enthusiasts are given the chance to get behind the wheel of a real life race car and, if they can beat the rest of the contestants in a physical competition, earn a spot on Nissan’s racing team.
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Chrysler has a hardcore group of owners who have taken their Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Challenger models to the next level of aftermarket bliss. For those Mopar super fans, Chrysler throws a little party called the Spring Festival of LXs. The event draws owners from all over eager to show off their customized rides, and this year, Team Pentastar had a little something special for those in attendance.
