CENTRAL IOWA MAN WINS $400,000 POWERBALL® PRIZE

To download digital audio files of this story, right click here, then navigate to “Save Target As” to save this file to your computer.

For media-ready jpeg image of John Ward and Jodi Bassett
click here.

John Ward Of Stuart Claims $400,000 Powerball Prize From Wednesday Drawing

DES MOINES, Iowa - A central Iowa man returned to the store where he bought a $400,000-winning Powerball ticket and had a little fun surprising the staff there.

John Ward of Stuart said that as he walked into the local convenience store, the clerk and another customer were talking about the fact that someone had won a $400,000 prize from a Powerball ticket purchased there.

“I had checked the numbers before,” Ward said. “And I said, ‘Here, can you check this ticket for me?’ And she stuck it in the machine and she goes, ‘Oh! It's you!’”

Ward won his big prize in Wednesday's Powerball drawing. The winning numbers that night were: 9-25-26-28-42 and Powerball 26. The Power Play number was 2. Because Ward purchased the Power Play® option on his ticket, the normal $200,000 prize he would have won for matching the first five numbers was multiplied by two for a total prize of $400,000.

Ward, 58, who works as a metal fabricator, claimed his prize Friday at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Des Moines. His wife, Jodi Bassett, accompanied him on the happy trip. Bassett, a chiropractor, said she knew when her husband came to her office Thursday to share the news that he wasn't joking around.

“I knew that it was legit because he's waited too long for this,” she said. “He wouldn't make this up and interrupt my busy schedule and create that kind of ruckus for a joke.”

Ward said that word of his big win began to spread in their small Guthrie County community before he left the convenience store after having the ticket checked.

“Everybody went nuts!” he said with a laugh. He bought his winning ticket - and later had it checked - at Kum & Go, 1303 Front St. in Stuart.

Ward and Bassett live on an acreage near Stuart and said they may use Ward's lottery winnings to build a new house on their land.

“With this kind of money, you take your time and think things through and decide what the best use of the money is,” Bassett said.

Ward said that his lottery winnings will make retirement “a lot easier, when it comes.”

In the meantime, he has one purchase firmly in mind: He plans to buy a new air compressor. He's dreaming a little, too.

“I haven't found my ‘57 T-Bird yet!” he said.

Players can add the Power Play option to their Powerball purchase for an additional $1 per play. Just before the Powerball numbers are drawn, the Power Play wheel is spun. Slots on the wheel list the numbers 2 through 5, indicating the amount prizes (except the jackpot) will be multiplied if that number is drawn.

Powerball tickets are sold in Iowa, 28 other states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball jackpots start at a guaranteed $15 million. Players choose five numbers from a pool of 55 and another number - the Powerball - from a pool of 42. Plays cost $1 and drawings are held at 9:59 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Winning numbers may be checked by calling the lottery at (515) 725-7900 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Winning numbers may also be checked through the winning numbers' hot line at (515) 323-4633; on the lottery Web site at www.ialottery.com; or with lottery retail outlets.

Since the Iowa Lottery's inception in 1985, more than $2.1 billion has been awarded in prizes and more than $1.1 billion has been raised for state programs.