RALEIGH - “Carolina Cash 5” players should be feeling lucky these days—the top prize was won two days in a row! On April 2, two tickets matched all five numbers drawn to split the $835,222 top prize; then on April 3, one ticket matched all five numbers drawn to win the $50,000 top prize.
Mehdi and Hans Naenifard of Charlotte held one of the winning tickets from the April 2 “Carolina Cash 5” drawing. The father and son duo claimed their $417,611 prize on Friday.
Mehdi says he had a feeling it might be their ticket when he went to a nearby gas station the day after the drawing to get his morning coffee and saw that the top prize had been won. He got the ticket from his son to check the numbers and says he was both overjoyed and in disbelief when he saw that all five numbers matched.
The Naenifards bought their winning ticket at the Xpress Mart on Old Statesville Road in Charlotte. Both plan to use their winnings to take an overseas vacation. They both also said that they would invest much of it into their businesses.
The other ticket that matched all five numbers drawn in the April 2 “Carolina Cash 5” drawing was claimed today by Edward Fisher of Havelock. He bought his winning ticket worth $417,611 at the Newport BP Mini Mart on Main Street in Newport.
Fisher says he checked the winning numbers by calling the North Carolina Education Lottery’s (NCEL’s) Player Hotline. He wrote down the numbers and compared them to his ticket, exclaiming “Holy cow!” when he saw that all five matched. Fisher says he then called the hotline right back to double check that he hadn’t written the numbers down incorrectly. He plans to use some of the money to go on a chartered fishing trip.
On April 3, the top prize for “Carolina Cash 5” was won again. One ticket matched all five numbers drawn to win the $50,000 top prize. The winning ticket was sold at Rushco Food Stores on North Highway 29 in China Grove and has yet to be claimed.
The Powerball jackpot continues to roll and is up to an estimated $143 million for the Wednesday, April 8 drawing! A total of 64,329 North Carolina Powerball players won prizes in the Saturday, April 2 Powerball drawing, ranging from $10,000 down to $3 for a total payout in prizes worth $461,937.
Four North Carolina tickets in Saturday night’s Powerball drawing matched four out of five white balls plus the Powerball and are worth $10,000 each. These tickets were sold at Carolina Pines Fuel Market on Carolina Pines Boulevard in New Bern, Cross Creek BP Amoco on Skibo Road in Fayetteville, Food Lion on North Rogers Lane in Raleigh, and Smoker Friendly on Northeast 29th Avenue in Hickory.
The North Carolina Education Lottery (NCEL) has paid out more than $6.7 million total in instant scratchoff ticket prizes since Thursday, April 2. Also since Thursday, “Carolina Cash 5” players have won more than $1.1 million and “Carolina Pick 3” players have won more than $1.3 million in prizes.
