I thought I won a competition car but dealership said I hadn’t a week later – I missed prize by five 100ths of a second

A COLLEGE football fan entered a contest to win a brand-new car and became an instant success – or so he thought.

Zachary Spangler, a student at Purdue University, thought he had won a two-year lease on a new Honda , but a few ticks on the clock nixed his successful 40-yard field goal attempt.

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During Purdue University’s football games , the university runs a kicking competition for a handful of students, according to the school’s paper, the Purdue Exponent .

The Kicks for Cash competition’s organizers ask participating students to complete three field goal attempts in 30 seconds.

Winners who connect on all three successive attempts are eligible to win a two-year lease on a brand-new car from a local dealership.

Spangler successfully hit field goal attempts from 20, 30, and 40 yards away.

He and 58,000 faithful football fans celebrated the short-lived victory with a massive crowd roar.

He was only the second student to hit all three field goals, the student paper reported.

College -level kickers at the top recruiting football schools had a  56.8% hit rate on field goals over 40 yards in 2019, according to Watch Stadium .

Spangler’s attempts didn’t have a regular snap or a defense attempting to block the kicks.

However, a rule allegedly hidden in the dealership’s insurance contract took away the student’s record.

The student complained after the tiny clause reneged his accomplishment, even though it’s different from standard football rules.

Spangler’s win came crashing down less than a week after the successful attempt when he received an email from the dealership.

The email contained video footage of the three kicks and revealed the football was still in contact with Spangler’s foot within the 30-second time frame.

The videos revealed five one-hundredths of a second left on the clock during Spangler’s leg swing.

Standard football rules allow kickers to hit the ball after time has expired.

Kick attempts are still competitive if the ball has been snapped, according to standard football regulations.

Dealership Tips

Here are some expert tips when purchasing a car from a dealership lot:

• 1. Set your price: Ensure you’ve calculated your monthly budget before going to the lot. You should include the car’s loan payment, insurance costs, fuel, and regular maintenance.
• 2. Research: Make sure you know which cars you’re interested in test driving before you reach the dealership.
• 3. Pre-approval: Secure financing before you go to the dealership. Dealerships may give you a better interest rate if they are competing with an outside bank.
• 4. Test away: Get behind the wheel before making any payments. A car purchase will be worth thousands of dollars – drivers should ensure they like the drivetrain, steering feel, and comfort of the car before taking it off the lot
• 5. Haggle: Drivers should always try to negotiate the price. There are so many good cars on the American market – buyers have a strong hand when negotiating price.

Source: Kelley Blue Book

But the dealership told Spangler that their insurance company would not grant the free release of the new car because of the clock discrepancy.

“Sorry to break the bad news, man,” the dealership representative told the student in an email.

“Amazing effort!”

Spangler told the publication he has a car on campus that “runs just fine.”

He wasn’t upset that the prize was no longer in play. Instead, he was annoyed at the principle that his record didn’t stand.

“They announced at the game that I won, and then [the dealership] posted on Twitter that I won,” Spangler told the publication.

“So there were, what, 58,000 people at the game? And then, the Twitter post got seen by 15,000, so that’s, what? 73,000 people who think I won a brand-new car?”