2nd Lucky Spin Wins $100,000

William C. Barlow Jr. of Huntington Beach was not at all disappointed when the $100,000 he would have won at the California lottery wheel spin Monday was negated because the wheel had not rotated enough times to satisfy the rules.

Barlow, 29, saw it as a sign that he really was destined to win the $2-million jackpot. But when he spun the wheel again, he was elated to discover that the lottery ball had landed on $100,000 for the second time. And this time it counted.

“It’s all been like a dream,” Barlow said. “It wouldn’t have mattered if I’d just got $10,000 that second time. Just being there was a thrill.”

Some of the money will go to make dreams come true. Since he was 10, Barlow has wanted to own a drag racing team. Now he can do it.

“It’s my hobby; I’ve been a mechanic working on drag racing cars since I was little,” Barlow said. “Owning my own team has always been my goal.”

Barlow, general manager of a solar heating company, was Orange County’s only participant in the spin in Hollywood on Monday for lottery prizes from $10,000 to $2 million. His name was one of 20 chosen from among 6,250 winners of $100 tickets.

Barlow started it all with $20. He bought 20 tickets the second day of the California Lottery and one of them was a $100 winner. When he got the $100, he used the money to buy 100 more tickets but held them back to give to charity.

Barlow said he can’t explain it, but from the moment he won the $100, he expected his name to be chosen.

“I was confident all the time,” Barlow said. “And after I was chosen, I immediately became confident I would win the $2 million. That one didn’t work out, but I’m not complaining.”

On Monday night, Barlow said that the first time he spun the wheel, his hand slipped and the wheel did not turn the three turns required by state lottery officials.

“I was so excited, my hands were sweaty, and I just lost my grip,” he said.

The second time, when he landed on the $100,000 again, he whooped for joy.

Actually, Barlow just got $80,000. Lottery officials took $20,000 off the top for the Internal Revenue Service.

Barlow’s goal now is to see to it that none of the rest goes for taxes. He and his girlfriend, Cathy Tonnessen, plan to invest most of the money in real estate, which may include a house. Right now they live with Tonnessen’s two sons in an apartment.

“We’re going to see what our accountant says,” Barlow said.

Barlow and Tonnessen had planned a party for late Monday night. But first they went to dinner with his parents, William and Betty Barlow of Laguna Niguel, at his father’s favorite restaurant in Costa Mesa.

“It was a highlight for my parents to have their son win,” Barlow said. “It was certainly the highlight of my life. Not because of the money, but because I was one of the lucky few to participate.”

Then there was the added bonus. Barlow got to meet his idol, Willie Nelson.

Barlow hired a public relations firm to help him handle publicity after he had been chosen on Oct. 15 to be one of the wheel spinners. But the firm primarily helped arrange for him to give away those 100 lottery tickets. He gave them to Willie Nelson, in person, at Nelson’s concert at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa last Sunday. Any winnings were to go to Nelson’s farm aid drive.

“Now that was a thrill,” Barlow said. “He was just great about it. I’m still waiting to hear if he won anything.”

Monday’s winnings, Barlow speculated, will “make my life easier, but it won’t change my life style. I still have to be at work at 7 a.m. tomorrow.”