Drawing broadcast live during pre-coverage of NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race on NBC
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PHOENIX (Nov. 5, 2023) – A Mississippi Lottery player has been declared the NASCAR Powerball Playoff™ Champion in an exhilarating conclusion to the national Powerball® promotion. Stephanie Walker of West Point, MS, won the $1 million grand prize in a drawing broadcast live from Victory Lane at Phoenix Raceway® during pre-coverage of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race™ on NBC.
“Like the NASCAR Playoffs, the anticipation has been building for weeks leading up to this Championship drawing,” said Drew Svitko, Powerball Product Group Chair and Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director. “This has been a wild ride, and we can’t wait to offer our players another opportunity to experience the thrill of the NASCAR Powerball Playoff next year!”
Stephanie was one of four finalists who won a VIP trip for two to NASCAR Championship Weekend, Nov. 3-5, at Phoenix Raceway and entry into the $1 million drawing. The three finalists eliminated from the playoff have each won a $10,000 prize for making it to the Championship 4, they include:
- Donald Pope – Michigan City, IN
- Peter Schmitz – Santa Fe, NM
- Barbara Wipf – Sioux Falls, SD
The VIP trip for the Championship 4 included roundtrip airfare for two to Phoenix, three nights hotel accommodations – double occupancy, two Ally Curve Hospitality Club passes for both the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race on Nov. 4 and the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race on Nov. 5, two passes for VIP experiences at Phoenix Raceway including NASCAR Cup Series™ VIP access, NASCAR team hauler tour, MRN radio booth tour, pace car rides, and Victory Lane access, welcome dinner and all meals, and ground transportation to scheduled events and activities.
“Just like the NASCAR Playoffs, the NASCAR Powerball Playoff Championship drawing has been filled with anticipation and excitement, culminating with Stephanie Walker taking home the $1 million prize,” said Michelle Byron, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Partnership Marketing. “This promotion was a perfect way to engage our loyal fans and lottery players alike, and we can’t wait to see it come to life again next year.”
All finalists entered the national Powerball promotion through one of 24 participating state lotteries. Participating lotteries held in-state contests and second-chance drawings throughout the 2023 NASCAR regular season to form a national pool of entrants. Sixteen semi-finalists were then drawn from the national pool to compete in a series of elimination drawings that mirror the elimination rounds of the NASCAR playoffs. Cash prizes will be awarded to all 16 semi-finalists based on their elimination position.
Lotteries that participated in the inaugural NASCAR Powerball Playoff include Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
The NASCAR Powerball Playoff™ will return in 2024 with new participating lotteries. Players should stay tuned to Powerball.com and their local lottery for entry dates and rules.
NASCAR® is a registered trademark of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC. Copyright ©2023 National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC. All Rights Reserved. NASCAR®, LLC is not a sponsor of this promotion.
About Powerball
Powerball® holds the current world record for largest national lottery jackpot at $2.04 billion. Powerball celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, and since its first drawing in 1992, the game has helped generate more than $29 billion for good causes supported by U.S. lotteries. More than half of all proceeds from the sale of a Powerball ticket remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold. Powerball tickets are $2 per play. Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. Powerball drawings are also live streamed on Powerball.com.
About NASCAR
Celebrating its 75th Anniversary in 2023, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series™), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series™, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour™), one local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series™) and three international series (NASCAR Pinty’s Series™, NASCAR Mexico Series™, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series™). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).
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