Dad turns $1 into ‘surreal’ North Carolina lottery prize. ‘I checked and I checked’

A dad decided to stop at a local convenience store he had never been to, and as a result, he won a big lottery prize in North Carolina that came at just the right time.

Mark Richards of Catawba County spent $1 on a Cash 5 lottery ticket, which matched all five numbers in the March 21 drawing to hit a jackpot prize of $320,722, the North Carolina Education Lottery announced March 26.

“I checked and I checked and I checked,” he told lottery officials. “It was surreal.”

He said he plans to use the winnings — which came out to about $230,000 after tax — to pay for his son’s college tuition.

“This is very good timing for us,” the Hickory man told lottery officials. “This is important for our family.”

Using randomly generated digits, Richards beat the 1-in-962,598 odds of matching five numbers that can range from one to 43 in the drawing, according to the N.C. Education Lottery.

“I guess it’s just one of those things that can happen at any time,” the dad told lottery officials.

Hickory is about a 60-mile drive northwest from Charlotte.

This story was originally published March 26, 2025 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Dad turns $1 into ‘surreal’ North Carolina lottery prize. ‘I checked and I checked’."