Sandpoint farmer wins $2M on Powerball

BOISE — When the fuel pump on Nathan Wood’s truck started making strange noises last Monday he pulled into the nearest gas station, Arnie’s Payless Gas on Highway 200 in Kootenai, to see what the trouble might be. Since he was already there, Wood purchased his regular Idaho Lottery tickets — two Powerball and two Mega Millions for last week’s draws on Monday and Tuesday nights.

A few days later, the local farmer from Sandpoint found out he had won $2,000,000 when his wife heard the news that there was a big Powerball winner from Bonner County and checked their tickets.

“She told me we had matched all five of the white balls on Powerball,” Wood said in a press release. “I couldn’t believe it. And then, I went back to planting onions.”

All Idaho Powerball tickets include PowerPlay, a feature that multiplies prizes on all non-jackpot winning tickets. Wood’s Powerball ticket matched all five of the first numbers, but not the Powerball number, making his ticket a $2,000,000 winner.

Once his big win sunk in, Wood said he contacted his accountant and got all his paperwork together before making the trip to Boise to claim his prize. Wood plans to fix the fuel pump on his truck and then make solid decisions on investing his winnings for the future.

For selling the winning ticket, Arnie’s Payless Gas receives a commission from the Idaho Lottery for $25,000.

Wood is traveling and not available for comment.