For Nicolas Carranza of Raleigh, his first time playing the lottery resulted in his splitting a $421,112 Cash 5 jackpot.

Carranza, a ramp agent at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport, bought the ticket for Sunday’s drawing on a whim. He didn’t expect to win and went to sleep before the drawing. He found out he won when his dad woke him up to tell him.

“I just wanted to go back to bed,” Carranza said. “It still hasn’t set in yet.”

Carranza claimed his half of the jackpot, $210,556, Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $135,284. He plans to use the money to get a car and help pay off his parent’s house.

Carranza bought the $1 Quick Pick ticket at the Sheetz on Millbrook Green Drive in Raleigh. He beat the odds of 1 in 575,757 to win the jackpot.

The other half of the jackpot went to Peter Mazzei, an Army veteran from Winterville. He bought the lucky ticket at the Handy Mart on N.C. 11 South in Winterville.

Ticket sales from games like Cash 5 made it possible for the lottery to raise more than half a billion dollars for the state last year. For details on how almost $331 million in lottery funds has made a difference in Wake County, click on the “For Education” section of the lottery’s website.