This is the man who won John Carmack’s Ferrari

id Software co-founder John Carmack is respected within the gaming industry and community, and putting up his very own Ferrari as a prize is something worth commending. The winner has taken a look back on the momentous day.

Carmack put his Ferrari 328 as the first-place prize for the M-Player tournament, which was claimed by professional gamer and gaming businessman Dennis “Thresh” Fong.

“I remember that the Ferrari was parked in the booth,” said Fong, reminiscing about the moment before he won the car back in 1997.

“It just so happened that, in the match, it was parked behind me. So, when there was 10 seconds left in the match, there was a countdown in the game. I remember this particular moment. I was up 13 to -1, and there was no way in hell I could lose at that point. When I realized that I was going to win it, I could see the Ferrari in the reflection of the monitor. That was the first time I got nervous in the whole tournament, just because I realized I was going to win.”

Fong said that it was a surreal moment, and that Carmack’s handing over the keys even exceeded his expectations.

“He watched the final match and then he came up to me afterwards and handed me the keys and said, ‘How are you getting this thing back to California?’ I said, ‘I have no clue.’ Actually, I didn’t even know how to drive a stick. He said, ‘Okay, wait here.’ He came back 20 minutes later and gave me a bunch of a cash to ship it back to California. That wasn’t even part of the prize, he was just like, ‘here’”.

Fong was considered the first pro gamer when he landed the title in the Guiness Book of World Records, and went on to form companies like Gamers.com, Xfire and Raptr.