Dennis Pope of People’s Financial Corporation in Mableton, Ga., carried the ball across the goal line to claim the top prize in the second quarter of The National Independent Automobile Dealers Association (NIADA)’s Membership Drive Challenge.

Pope led the association’s football-themed membership campaign, which ran from November to January, by sponsoring 82 new members.

Other prize winners include Jayne Harris and Jenny Myrick of the Carolinas IADA, who brought in 44 and 40 new memberships; Julie Colgate of Independent Dealers Advantage in Suwanee, Ga. (39); Ohio IADA executive director Wendy Rinehart (34); and Debbie Braswell of the Carolinas (25).

The winners will select from a group of prizes that includes complimentary full registration for the winner and a guest to the NIADA Convention and Expo, coming up June 13-16 at the Mirage in Las Vegas.

The football membership campaign, part of a yearlong membership initiative that began with a baseball theme, accounted for 380 sponsored new memberships, bringing the total from the first two phases to 614 new members.

The football promotion was followed by a basketball campaign that wraps up March 31. The membership drive's last lap – an auto racing-themed promotion – begins in April and runs through May 15.

"NIADA’s membership initiative has been a tremendous success so far, but it is far from over," NIADA president Frank Fuzy said. "Once again, I urge every member, every auction and every vendor to get involved so we can finish strong."