"I kept telling people I was going to win big one day," James Vandling said.
His winning ticket cost $50. It's the $10 Million Spectacular scratch-off, which debuted in Dec. 2023. Since then three people have won the top prize of $10 million. Vandling is the fifth person to win the $1 million jackpot.
Interestingly, it's the second time Vandling has bought and won the $10 Million Spectacular. His previous purchase won him $500.
He won the larger prize when he and his nephew stopped at Hawfield General Store in Mebane to buy a Gatorade.
Now, Vandling's family is going to get the vacation of a lifetime.
"I'm going to take my kids and grandkids to Disney World," he said. "We've never done that before."
Instead of taking the lump sum of $600,000, Vandling opted to receive the $1 million jackpot as an annuity of $50,000 over 20 years. After taxes, he took home $35,764 for his first installment.