Ultimate Makeover winner collects prize at Homestead

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Shirley Campbell is a NASCAR fan from upstate New York, and she came to Homestead-Miami as a winner. She left with victory and a whole lot more as the 2008 NASCAR season came to a close in sunny South Florida.

The Ultimate NASCAR Performance Makeover Sweepstakes contest wrapped on Oct. 19, and Campbell was the winner from among more than 150,000 entries. Included in her prize package was an all-expense-paid trip from her home in Kent, N.Y., to the Ford 400 and VIP treatment throughout, but the real prize was the makeover of a 1987 Pontiac Trans-Am using NASCAR-approved and licensed parts and supplies.

Shirley Campbell

"This is great, and we really enjoyed being here all weekend," Campbell said from the press room at HMS. "The prize package was huge. We got a collar and leash for the dog, T-shirts, hats, all kinds of performance products, car care products, a FanView with two sets of headphones ... and a $10,000 makeover for my car."

The car is something to behold for any child of the 1980s, a bright red Trans-Am with chrome wheels and flared body panels.

"We went out and got this Trans-Am, because who wants to makeover a Town & Country van?" the irrepressible Campbell said.

Campbell entered the contest one time and emerged the winner.

"The local grocery store, Save A Lot, had Carl Edwards' No. 60 up there, so I went there and got a digital picture taken," she said. "A couple of days later, I went online to download the photo and there was an entry for this sweepstakes. I didn't pay any attention to what it was, I just entered it.

"I forgot I even entered it, but then the lady from the marketing company called me. I was sick at the time and didn't answer. They were FedExing me a package overnight with things in it that I had to sign. They probably told me that I won, but I was sick and I probably didn't listen to them."

It all worked out, however, and Campbell was on her way.

"I called and the lady at the marketing company told me that I had won the grand prize," Campbell said. "She told me that NASCAR was going to call me very shortly, and they did. It turned out great."

When the makeover happens, it will start out with a pretty fresh piece. The Trans-Am, according to Campbell, has just 79,000 miles on it. "We're going to keep it red and put a clear-coat on it so it really has a shine to it," she said. "The inside is fabric and in really good shape, but I think we're going to have it done in leather.

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"My friend said that 'you really have to put a Flowmaster exhaust on it. I don't know, but apparently we're putting a Flowmaster exhaust on it!"

As much as Campbell enjoyed all the perks of her trip, she enjoyed the weather too.

"It's nice to be here in all this warm sunshine," she said brightly. "It's getting cold up home."

Campbell is a NASCAR fan from way back, and her first driver was Jimmy Spencer. "It was a long time ago, bad-boy Jimmy Spencer," she said with a grin.

She's been to races at Dover and Lowe's Motor Speedway, and as a long-time NASCAR fan, Campbell said she thought of winning the sweepstakes as a reward for her loyalty.

"Definitely," she said. "Oh, yeah. I'm a passionate fan, and I watch the race every weekend."

One thing that Campbell does advise her fellow NASCAR fans to do is watch for opportunities to get into a contest like the one from NASCAR Performance Network.

"You have to keep your eyes open and do what you can to get in," she said. "You could be here like I am."

Somehow, NASCAR fans always seem to do just that, and that's why companies keep coming to the table.