Esther Hall, a home health-care professional from Salisbury, got the $50,000 prize and new 2013 Toyota Tundra she won in the N.C. Education Lottery at a presentation Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“I was surprised when I checked my ticket and saw I had won,” Hall said. “It felt good. I may drive the truck, but my son will probably drive it more. We can certainly use it, and the money will help me save for the future.”
Hall won the money and truck in the June 3 Carolina Cash 5 Bonus Bucks drawing, a news release said.
The Tundra was a bonus prize and part of a special partnership between the lottery and Charlotte Motor Speedway. The truck recently set the pace for the truck racers at the NASCAR Camping World NCEL 200 on May 17.
Hall, the fourth top prize winner of the Carolina Cash 5 Bonus Bucks promotion, bought her Cash 5 tickets at the Wilco on West Jake Alexander Boulevard.
Her entry was one of 949,988 in the drawing.
To participate in Carolina Cash 5 Bonus Bucks drawings, players must make a $5 Cash 5 purchase. With each $5 purchase, they receive an entry slip with a 9-digit number which must be presented when claiming prizes. The next drawing is scheduled for July 24 and the entry deadline is July 17.
Since the lottery began through June 30, 2012, the news release said, Rowan County education programs received more than $32.5 million in lottery funds. By law, those funds pay for teachers’ salaries in grades K-3, school construction, prekindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds, and college scholarships and financial aid based on need.