Summertime often makes that romantic notion of a long, winding road trip seem all the more inviting. That notion might seem even more inviting after this weekend for Iowa State student Adam Manatt.

Manatt, junior in political science, is a finalist in an MTV/Coca-Cola- sponsored contest in which the grand prize is a brand new Custom MTV “Road Rules” Fleetwood RV.

It all started during dead week when Coca-Cola set up a display on central campus promoting Citra, said Manatt, a Brooklyn, Iowa, native.

“They just had a box there that said sign up to win an RV,” he said. “I just wrote down my name and phone number and put it in the box.”

Then, on the Thursday of finals week, Manatt got a call saying he was a finalist for the grand prize.

“They took one name from like 50 campuses and then drew five names from those 50,” he said. “I just happened to get lucky twice, I guess. I was completely shocked.”

As a result of that luck, Manatt will take part in a race at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., this Saturday night.

However, the race will be peculiar to say the least. All five finalists will be riding shotgun in an RV driven by an actual NASCAR driver.

“We’ll all be randomly assigned an RV and a driver,” he said.

Which RV Manatt gets assigned to will hold major importance. Each RV will have differing amounts of fuel. The occupant of the last vehicle still running will be the winner of the RV.

But whether Manatt wins or not, just being a finalist turned out to be a pretty good deal.

“They’re paying for my airfare, my hotel, my meals and my box seats for the race [Coca-Cola Family 200] that night,” he said.

Manatt, who will be leaving on Friday and getting back on Sunday, also was excited about getting to meet the stars of MTV’s “Road Rules.” The cast of the “Real World” adventure spin-off will be on hand to offer road-tripping advice to the winner.

“I’ve seen the show,” he said, “and I guess it’ll be neat to see if these people are actually real.”

Perhaps Manatt could use the advice from the “Road Rules” cast because he said he isn’t sure what he will do if he wins the RV.

“I really don’t think my luck is going to hold out that long,” he said. “I’m pretty much just happy that I’m on the trip. But if I actually win the RV, I have no idea what I’m going to do with it. I guess just pay taxes on it.”