Racing fan: Decatur great-grandmother cups $258,000

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

ATLANTA – A great-grandmother of six, who is an avid NASCAR racing fan, matched all five winning numbers in the March 20 Fantasy 5 drawing, winning a $258,604 jackpot prize. Jo Ann Drennan of Decatur said she used race car driver Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 in her combination of winning numbers.

Drennan, 80, said she may be ready to roll to a race the next time Gordon laps Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“That’s entirely possible to see a race,” she said.

Winning numbers from the March 20 drawing were: 5-10-24-26-33. Kroger #0459, 2875 N. Decatur Road in Decatur, sold the winning ticket.

Along with No. 24, the lucky lottery winner used family birthdays and the age of a grandson for her timely combination.

She discovered her win while reading a local newspaper.

“My brother called, and I could not hold back anything,” she said. “We just had a lot of fun over the phone.”

A mother of two adult children, Drennan has four grandchildren; including a granddaughter, who is a lottery-funded pre-K teacher; and two grandsons, who were recipients of lottery-funded HOPE.

She considers her Fantasy 5 win “very special.”

Georgia Lottery retailers selling winning Fantasy 5 jackpot tickets receive a retailer incentive bonus of $2,000. The retailer incentive bonus increases by $2,000 each time Fantasy 5 rolls. If more than one winning jackpot ticket is sold, the retailers selling the winning jackpot tickets will share the bonus. Kroger will receive a $6,000 retailer incentive bonus.

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corporation has returned more than $11.4 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program. More than 1.2 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.

For more information, please visit the Media Center on the Georgia Lottery Web site at:
www.galottery.com

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Tandi Reddick
Media Relations Manager

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