RALEIGH, N.C. — One North Carolina veteran recently got the best present ever after winning a $100,000 prize from the Christmas Day Powerball drawing!
Floyd Cox, a retired painter of Dover, NC, said his Powerball present took the No. 1 ranking because it was a "once in a lifetime present."
Cox became the top prize winner in North Carolina in the drawing while two others won a $50,000 prize. In all, 19,667 North Carolina lottery players received a Powerball present, ranging in value from $4 to Cox’s $100,000.
Floyd's good luck all started Christmas Day when he bought a Quick Pick ticket at the Vanceboro Food Mart on N.C. 43.
He says he discovered his present the next morning when he checked his Powerball numbers on the lottery's smartphone app.
“Like the birth of a new day,” said Cox of his win.
Cox claimed the prize Friday at lottery headquarters. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $70,751. Cox plans to use the money to help his four children and said he may take a trip to Times Square for the New Year’s Eve celebration.
Cox’s $3 Power Play ticket matched numbers on four of the white balls and the Powerball to win $50,000. The prize doubled when the 2X multiplier was drawn. The ticket beat odds of one in 913,129.
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