William Carroll of Gastonia said he still can’t believe he picked the winning numbers for a $692,388 Cash 5 jackpot.

“I was just sitting at the kitchen table one night and some numbers came into my head,” Carroll said. “I wrote them down and decided I should probably play them.”

On Friday night, he stopped by the Speedway on West Franklin Street in Gastonia and used those numbers to get a Cash 5 ticket. He put the ticket on his bedside table and didn’t think about it until four days later when he went back to the store to check it.

“When the clerk said I needed to go to Raleigh I knew I won something big,” Carroll said. “I was so excited I had to keep myself calm. I always hoped that I would win, but I never thought I actually would. My dream finally came true!”

Carroll claimed the jackpot Wednesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $489,865. He plans to use the money to get a new Chevrolet truck and go to the beach.

“I can’t remember the last time I took a vacation,” Carroll said. “Which means, it’s long overdue.”

His ticket beat odds of one in 962,598 to win the jackpot. 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 or through Online Play on the lottery’s website. The jackpot for Wednesday’s Cash 5 drawing is $235,000.

Ticket sales from draw games like Cash 5 make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $650 million a year for education. For details on how $13.8 million in lottery funds made a difference in Gaston County last year, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website. https://www.nclottery.com.