Jimmie Phelps of Greensboro, a retired general manager of an automobile dealership, said the $155,721 Carolina Cash 5 jackpot he won Monday night will mean the mortgage gets paid off; he’ll get a Harley-Davidson motorcycle; and his wife’s dream about a trip to Tahiti may finally come true.

Phelps beat odds of one in 575,757 to win the Cash 5 jackpot. He said the win came after he bought two $1 tickets at a lottery vending machine at the Harris Teeter on West Friendly Avenue in Greensboro on Monday.

“I always thought I would win one day,” said Phelps. His wife, Susan, added: “He’s the eternal optimist.”

Phelps discovered his good luck Tuesday morning while checking his tickets against the winning numbers on the lottery’s website. He said he usually covers up his numbers and reveals them one at a time. “Oh, my goodness,” he recalled saying as one match led to a second match and finally to all five numbers matching.

By the end of the day, Phelps and his wife were at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After taxes were withheld, he received $105,890.

Ticket sales for games such as Carolina Cash 5 have enabled the lottery to raise more than $2.58 billion for education initiatives statewide. Since the lottery began through June 30, 2012, Guilford County education programs received more than $127.6 million in lottery funds. By law, those funds pay for teachers’ salaries in grades K-3, school construction, prekindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds, and need-based college scholarships and financial aid.

A Cash 5 promotion that started Sept. 9 offers players five extra chances to win as much as $50,000. The lottery will hold five Cash 5 Bonus Bucks drawings between now and next summer. In each drawing, five prizes will be awarded: One $50,000 grand prize, one $5,000 prize, and three $1,000 prizes. The first Bonus Bucks drawing will be held today. The second one is scheduled for Jan. 16. More details on the promotion are available on the lottery’s official website.