Chris Weissensee used to consider sweepstake contests something of a joke, but the Sacramento auto repair shop owner changed his opinion after winning a $50,000 Ford truck Sunday.

The 36-year old owner of Capitol City European was one of 10 finalists flown to the NASCAR race in Florida last weekend to take part in the contest. Each contestant was told to pick a Truck key and try to start the ignition of a new
Ford F-150 limited edition pickup. Weissensee had the lucky draw.

“It was amazing,” Weissensee said by phone Monday after arriving back home at the Sacramento airport.

“I was shaking when I was trying to put the key in the ignition. Then the truck started and I was jumping up and down.”

The odds were against him.

Ten thousand people entered the sweepstakes. The contest was open to people who do business with Ford by purchasing engines or transmissions. But Weissensee’s shop focuses primarily on foreign cars. He says he only bought one engine from Ford last year as a favor for a friend, and that made him eligible for the sweepstakes.