CNN
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A North Carolina man’s longtime support of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt paid off when he won over $200,000 in the lottery.
Luther Dowdy, a 63-year-old gravedigger, purchased three ‘Quick Pick’ tickets honoring No. 3 on Earnhardt’s race car, according to a North Carolina Lottery press release
His Earnhardt-inspired technique worked: He won the $235,001 Cash 5 jackpot on Monday and went to lottery headquarters to claim his winnings on Wednesday, the statement said. After taxes, his earnings were $166,875.
Dowdy was shocked when he realized how much he had earned, the statement said.
“I fell off my chair when I saw how much I had earned,” he said in the statement. “Now maybe I could retire at the end of this year.”
The odds of winning the Cash 5 jackpot in the North Carolina Lottery are just 1 in 962,598, according to lottery officials.