Anchorage Daily News

WASILLA -- A family vacation turned profitable for a Wasilla social worker who landed a spot last month on "The Price Is Right" TV show and won a new car.

Kerri Whittecar, 39, won a Hyundai Elantra sedan -- fully loaded -- and fulfilled a lifelong dream when she was selected to appear on the popular game show now in its 38th season. The show she appeared in aired Tuesday.

Whittecar, her two daughters and her niece traveled to California last month after two years of raising money for the trip. The destination was Disneyland, Whittecar said, but she planned a side trip to "The Price Is Right" along the way.

The family moved to Alaska five years ago. Whittecar was raised in Southern California and said she has a special spot in her heart for Disneyland. She's a single mom attending school at the University of Alaska Anchorage and working as a state social worker. She cares for two daughters, 10 and 13 years old, and her niece, who is 17.

Her mother, Vallie Arthur, also of Wasilla, was an audience member at the show about 30 years ago but wasn't selected as a competitor, Whittecar said. Ever since Whittecar has longed to get on the show.

"I watched the show long enough, I knew if I could just get selected, I had a good chance of winning," she said.

After visiting Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farms, then spending a couple days at the beach, Whittecar said she left her girls at the hotel and arrived at 6:30 a.m. to stand in line at the CBS Studios where the show is taped.

GETTING PICKED

Drama ensued. The first show, which taped at 1 p.m., was sold out. She stayed in line for the 4 p.m. show taping. But first dibs on audience seats go to big groups of people, not individuals, she said. The pool of open seats for the second show shrank as the groups were let in.

Whittecar said waiting in line wasn't bad -- she got to know the people in line with her, like the mother-daughter team from Ohio and the group of Hollywood hairdressers. After her number was called to be part of the audience, show staff interviewed the hopeful contestants.

Whittecar said she told the interviewers she was visiting from Alaska (home of Sarah Palin, they noted) and was a longtime fan of the show.

"I skipped up to the line, I was dancing a jig the whole time -- just rocking back and forth in my skin trying to keep myself contained," she said. "I don't even remember what I said. I do remember saying that this is my dream, I've come all this way, you've got to let me on the show."

Apparently she made an impression -- she was the third contestant called down to the front to bid on a prize. The item up for bid was a big hammock on a sturdy metal frame, she said. Her bid, $800, was closest without going over to the $1,000-plus actual price, she said.

"I ran up and I think I about tackled Drew Carey (the show's host)," she said.

Carey has been hosting the show for two years. But Whittecar, a longtime fan of the show, said she wished it had been Bob Barker, the longest-running show host.

"If it would have been Bob Barker, I would have given him a kiss on the cheek," she said.

Then came the line "Price is Right" fans know well -- "a new CAR!"

"I went berserk again," Whittecar said.

To get the car, she had to play the game "Lucky $even" -- Carey handed her seven $1 bills and behind sliding doors was a wall with the price of the car on it. The first number of the price, a 1, was revealed, but Whittecar had to fill in the four remaining numbers. If she guessed a 7 and the number was a 4, she had to pay Carey the difference.

To win, she had to have $1 left with which to "buy" the car after the last number was revealed.

With good guessing and a little strategy, Whittecar won the car. More jumping and screaming ensued. She sat in the audience and filled out forms while other contestants took their turn at the game.

A FINAL SPIN

Whittecar went back on stage for a second competition, spinning the big wheel to decide which player tries for the grand prize. Competitors try to spin the wheel to the number closest to, but not over, $1. Whittecar and two other competitors spun 75 (cents). Whittecar spun again but lost when another competitor spun 95 (cents).

Two weeks later, Whittecar said, she hasn't received her car. She spoke with the California dealership -- which thought she lived in Arkansas -- recently to discuss shipping the car, but it's not clear yet when that will happen.

She said she'll have to pay income taxes on the value of the vehicle, but she's hoping the show picks up the cost of shipping it here.

"I'm a little worried," she said.

She said she learned she's getting a 2010 Elantra; the dealer sold out of 2009 models, she said. She has yet to pick out the colors -- she's thinking blue.

Her 1993 Chevy Trailblazer will go to another family member. Whittecar said her only regret was forgetting to use the time spent spinning the wheel to say "hi" to her children on national television.

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