Nissan GT Academy Season 3 finishes with new winner

Nissan has crowned a new winner for the GTA this year, with the final episode airing on Spike TV in a dramatic last lap, earning the victor the red helmet in the gamer-to-racer quest.

This year's winner was crowned after a sixty-minute episode of the third season of the popular gamers turned drivers show finished the season. Nick McMillen, one of only four finalists, outpaced the other three in the final last lap to win the red helmet signifying his win.

McMillan is a 20-year old former motocross rider from Salem, Oregon who'd taken a job in automotive sales before quitting that to try for a career in motorsports with Nissan and NISMO.

"I asked my bosses if I could get some time off to go to the finals in New York, and they said they didn’t want me to be gone that long, so I quit," said McMillen. "That’s how much having a chance to race means to me." In all honesty, I'd have done the same.

Nearly 400,000 Gran Turismo online players entered the competition last summer, with the top 32 traveling to the U.S. finals in New York in September. The top 12 survived to travel to Silverstone in the UK to battle each other through extreme physical, psychological and on-track racing challenges over the span of six episodes. Watch full episodes online here.

Since taping of Season 3 wrapped in early October, McMillen has been training with other NISMO athletes at Silverstone, earning his International endurance racing license. Below is a clip of Nick as he works to obtain his license. Watch this video diary collage: