Santaquin Man Wins Lamborghini

David Dopp, of Santaquin, was the lucky recipient of a Lamborghini Murcielago

David Dopp knew he was going to win a Lamborghini.

“If you think something can happen to you it can,” he said Saturday afternoon standing in his driveway in Santaquin next to his new car.

When he entered Maverik’s “Joe Schmo to Lambo” competition to win a brand new Lamborghini last October, Dopp told himself he was going to win.

When Maverik’s marketing team called him to tell him he was one of ten qualifiers for the top prize a month later, he said it would be his car.

His mother, LeeAnn Dopp, said he would claim it as his own even before he had officially won. “We believe in being positive… he’s been very positive about it,” she said.
“He said ‘that’s my car.’”

On Saturday afternoon, David Dopp, a truck-driver for Frito-Lay, became the official owner of a Lamborghini Murcielago LP640. With 640 horsepower, a top speed of 205 mph, and the ability to go from 0-60 mph in 3.4 seconds, Dopp’s new ride is the envy of the road in his small town of Santaquin.

“It’s probably the best thing that can happen,” said Dopp’s friend Jed Poulsen of the prize.

The competition, held by the 220-store Maverik gas station chain and teamgive.org, an organization that helps fund research to provide cures and treatments for neurological diseases afflicting children, started in March 2009 and ended when Dopp was announced the winner during a halftime show event at a football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium at Brigham Young University.

During the tailgate party before the game, the ten qualifiers for the competition were to pull numbers to find out who would win the Lamborghini. When it got to Dopp’s turn to pull a number, two numbers came out … he had to decide between the number six and the number seven.

Six became Dopp’s lucky number that night.

Now the father of six children, Dopp decided the recent birth of his sixth child (who was only 11 days old at the time) was a sign that he should pick six. He went with his gut feeling and was announced the winner.

“I was in shock,” said Dopp’s wife Annette Dopp who was home with their newborn baby.

That was a month ago. Saturday at 1:00 p.m., Dopp got to drive away from the Santaquin Maverik location where he entered the contest, driving his brand-new $354,000, high-performance, convertible supercar.

“That’s a lot of power for one man to have,” said Dopp of his first ride in the bright green roadster. “It’s so crazy, I feel like I’m in a dream.”

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Photos by Kari Ann Haskell and Mike Swan. 

According to Maverik’s Executive Director of Marketing, Ernie Harker, Dopp also won a $5000 package from Miller Motor Sports for a high-performance driving school. “He’ll even get to learn how to drive that thing,” said Harker.

Dopp’s family, friends, and neighbors came out to see him take his first spin in the new ride. His friends felt the prize was well deserved.

“He’s a nice guy, always giving and willing to help other people,” said friend and neighbor Ben Glazner. “So it couldn’t have happened to someone nicer.”

Dopp’s oldest son Dawson was especially excited. The six-year-old apparently asked Santa this year for a ride in the Lamborghini.

Santa delivered early for the Dopp family.