On Wednesday, November 4, PlayStation hosted the 7th annual Gran Turismo (GT) Awards in Las Vegas, taking place in conjunction with the 2009 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show. SEMA Show participants were invited to submit their cars for consideration in the GT Awards, and a select panel of judges picked the top winner for each of five categories--Domestic, Truck/SUV, Hot Rod, Asian Import, and European Import. Kazunori Yamauchi, creator of the Gran Turismo franchise, carefully inspected each vehicle and learned about their history and performance from the owners themselves.

In the end there could be only one, and Yamauchi's pick for Best In Show was revealed at the Gran Turismo Awards ceremony, hosted by Ashley Van Dyke at the Rain nightclub at the Palms hotel. There was a fantastic turnout to find out who would go home with the coveted award and see their pride and joy digitally re-created to be a playable car in a future installment of Gran Turismo. And that prestigious honor went to Phil Koenan and Todd Garthshore for their black 1970 Ford Mustang Trans-Cammer.

Once the awards were given out, attendees were treated to a special live performance by the The Offspring, followed by a hard-hitting set by DJ Z-Trip.

Visit here to read comments from the previous two winners and their impressions of driving their winning cars in the Gran Turismo 5 demo on display at the party.