N.C. truck driver wins $1 million while passing through Tennessee

Oct. 26 (UPI) -- A North Carolina truck driver on his way to California found his choice of route to be especially profitable when he won a $1 million lottery jackpot in Tennessee.

Yuriy Zalyevskyy told Tennessee Lottery officials he was hauling a load to California when he made a stop at the Pilot Travel Center in Stanton, Tenn.

Zalyevskyy said he bought a few scratch-off tickets and scratched them off inside the store. One of the tickets, a Millionaire Jumbo Bucks game, turned out to be a $1 million winner.

"Before, I thought I'd be loud, jumping up and down," Zalyevskyy said of his previous expectations for winning the lottery.

He said the reality turned out to be the opposite.

"I could not speak," he said. "I walked, slowly and quietly, to my truck because I didn't know what was going on."

Zalyevskyy said he plans to use his winnings to buy a house.