Trip to visit family leads to $1 million lottery win for Virginia crane operator

A 45-mile drive to visit relatives made a Virginia man rich, when he stopped to buy an energy drink and splurged on some $10 lottery tickets.

Nicholas Foxx of Roanoke won $1 million, which is the top prize in the 20X The Money scratch-off game, according to a Virginia Lottery news release.

“I thought I was reading it wrong!” Foxx told lottery officials. “You don’t know anyone who’s hit the lottery for that amount of money!”

Odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 1,958,400.

Foxx had the choice between getting the full $1 million prize over 30 years or taking a one-time cash option of $625,000 before taxes.

He went with the cash option.

Foxx, who works as a crane operator, did not reveal plans for spending the money.

The ticket was purchased at the A1 Mini Mart on Main Street in Altavista, where Foxx was visiting his family, officials said. The store gets a $10,000 bonus from the Virginia Lottery for selling the winning ticket.

Altavista is about a 130-mile drive west from Richmond.

This story was originally published September 23, 2024 at 10:46 AM with the headline "Trip to visit family leads to $1 million lottery win for Virginia crane operator."