Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

RALEIGH – Leslie Withers of Stanley wanted a new Jeep Grand Cherokee for years and now she can finally get one after winning $200,000 in a second-chance drawing.

“Our current Jeep has over 300,000 miles,” Withers said. “Now I can look to get me a brand new one.”

Withers found out that she won the grand prize in Wednesday’s 2023 Multiply the Cash second-chance drawing when she got an email notification from the lottery. There were more than 59 million entries in the drawing.

“It was just so unreal,” she said. “For years I’ve entered tickets into second-chance drawings but I never really expected to win anything. I just enter for the possibility of winning.”

Withers said she became emotional when she got to lottery headquarters because that’s when it started to really sink in that she won.

“I did cry tears of joy,” she said. “This is a blessing in so many ways.”

She arrived on Tuesday to collect her prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $142,500.

Players get a second chance with their Multiply the Cash tickets by scanning the tickets into their lottery accounts where they are automatically entered into the next drawing. Withers won the top prize in the first of four 2023 Multiply the Cash second-chance drawings. The second draw date will be June 7.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise $2.5 million a day on average for education. For details on how $14.9 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Gaston County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.