Truck driver Timothy Tucker of Etowah says winning Sunday’s $480,592 Cash 5 jackpot “was a shocker!”
Tucker stopped at Mr. Pete’s Market on Brevard Road in Etowah Sunday morning. He knew he’d be heading to Boston the following morning and his routine before a long-haul drive is to buy his Quick Pick tickets before he goes.
Tucker said he called the next day “to see if anybody won.” Well, somebody had and it was him.
“I called it about 25, 30 times, said Tucker, who had been up all night driving. “I couldn’t believe it!”
Tucker says with a laugh that when he told his wife “she didn’t believe me at first” but then she “was really excited.” He made her an offer she couldn’t refuse.
“I had to take my truck to the shop,” Tucker said. “I told her, ‘if you let me drive your car to Raleigh, I’ll pay it off for you’ - because she just bought a new car last year. She took off work today and rode down here with me.”
Tucker claimed his prize on Thursday. After required federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $340,020.
“I’m a pretty simple person,” he said. “I plan on investing it. And now I get to retire a little bit earlier than I would have.”
Cash 5 is a statewide draw game that gives players the chance to win a jackpot every single night. Tickets cost $1 and players can buy tickets at most lottery retailers, through Online Play on the lottery’s website, or on the NC Lottery Official Mobile app.
Friday’s Cash 5 jackpot is $110,000.
Ticket sales from draw games like Cash 5 make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $725 million per year for education. For details on how $5.3 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Henderson County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.
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