LEITCHFIELD, Ky. — A Grayson County man is ringing in the new year with tens of thousands more dollars in his bank account after an early Christmas surprise.
Nicholas Nelson won more than $73,000 on a Kentucky Lottery Fast Play ticket. He purchased the winning $2 Silver & Gold 10X Fast Play ticket last Thursday at a Speedway in Elizabethtown, officials said.
He said he stopped by the store to buy lottery tickets on his way home from work. "I had two dollars leftover after buying my other tickets, so I bought a Fast Play ticket," Nelson said.
When the ticket printed and he scanned it, he was shocked to see the ticket was worth $73,141.
"I looked at the ticket and stuffed it in my coat pocket," he said, recalling the moment. "I didn't believe it, I thought I was going to have a heart attack."
Nelson told lottery officials that he called his mom and she didn't believe him at first either.
"Usually if I call that time of night after work, there's something wrong," he said, adding that his wife also had a hard time believing him.
"She thought I was lying to her when I called her on the phone. She told me she was going to wait until I had the money," Nelson said laughing.
After taxes, Nelson walked away with a check for $52,295.81.
He said the first thing he plans to do with the money is buy his wife a new car.
"They asked me at work if I was going to work overtime tomorrow," Nelson said. "I said, 'nope.'"
Speedway will receive $731.41 for selling the winning ticket.
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