When Dennis Kahler purchased the $5 scratch off “Corvette and Cash” ticket issued from the Georgia lottery, he had no idea that his odds of actually getting the car might be tougher than winning it.

Dennis, a used car salesman, purchased the ticket while having lunch with his wife at a fast-food restaurant with a $5 bill he just so happened to find in his pocket. The contest is set up so that the lucky winner would receive $250,000 PLUS enough cash to buy a Corvette Stingray of their dreams and enough to pay the taxes and fees. As if the winner’s day isn’t happy enough, they also get to keep the difference if any cash is left over from the allotted $107,000 dollars set aside for the procurement of the car.

One of the benefits to the winner of the Georgia lottery’s Corvette and Cash is they can spec out their own C8 to their liking, and if any funds are left over, they can keep the extra coin! That’s what likely held up Dennis’ purchase thanks to buyer’s premiums biting into the car’s purchase change coming back to Kahler.

There were obviously two entities taken totally by surprise when social distancing became socially acceptable. Because the game is designed so that the winner could pick out their car, the Georgia lottery hadn’t secured any cars for the winners to secure their place in line. Likewise, GM has been trying to fill the void of cars on dealer’s lots ever since the car was introduced. Everything from strikes, shutdowns, slowdowns, and delays have created a vacuum long before GM employees were required to work elbow to elbow, so long as they stayed six feet apart. Many 2020 Corvette purchasers needed to have their orders rolled over to the following year, which started 2021 production with a huge demand.

That has created a seller’s market for C8 Corvettes, everyone was trying to get a car that has topped many top ten lists since it was introduced. Since he didn’t even consider buying one until last week when a scratch-off ticket lured him into a dealership, Dennis was simply late to the party and trying to find his place in line. In full disclosure, Dennis Kahler did find a place in line at a Warner Robbins, Georgia dealership, but they tacked on a $10,000 premium due to the car’s high demand.

If we were picking the hues, our C8 would have GM’s classy Natural, Napa leather seating surfaces with perforated inserts in those supportive GT2 seats. As if we needed more reasons to run out and get some scratch-off tickets!

Try getting a car salesman to bite on a $10,000 premium hook! Also, remember how that game is set up. Any funds left over would go directly into Dennis Kahler’s wallet. Reports state that Five Star Chevrolet had actually lowered the premium for Dennis from $25,000 to accommodate the lottery winner’s good fortune. Dennis still wasn’t biting. Dennis reportedly is disappointed that the lottery hadn’t made any preparations for supplying the cars before issuing the tickets, but again, who knew we’d all be wearing month-old masks?

Dennis’ plight was shared on a Corvette Facebook group and soon went viral. Due to the broad spotlight put on the issue, Dennis has been able to find C8 Corvettes at a price that would even make a used car salesman sign on the dotted line. Jim Ellis Chevrolet in Atlanta, Georgia set Dennis up with a Rapid Blue Stingray 2LT with the Z51 performance package. Now, before all you folks who waited in line to get your C8 get all bent out of shape, Dennis can get his car at MSRP, but he’ll have to wait in line until the car is built sometime in March.

The Georgia lottery’s web page states that there are yet three other Corvette and Cash winning tickets in circulation as of this writing. So, if you’ve got five bucks itching in your pocket and you think the smell of a brand-new Corvette would look good on you, feel free to take a chance on one. You may even want to check around to some of your dealer friends first to see if they’ve got one sitting on the showroom floor they would sell at a price that GM feels acceptable. I wouldn’t go checking off any boxes in anticipation though, as we’d bet that would add in yet another level of complexities.