Feb. 4 (UPI) -- A North Carolina man said a stop for gas and the discovery of a lucky penny led to winning $250,000 from a scratch-off lottery ticket.
Christopher Wray, of Maiden, told North Carolina Education Lottery officials his original intention when he stopped at the Quik Trip gas station in Gastonia was only to fuel up his vehicle.
"I was actually stopping to get gas," Wray said. "I went in to go use the facilities, and on the way in I found a penny, heads up, on the ground. And I was like, 'Hey! Find a penny, pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck, right?'"
Wray said he decided to buy some of the new scratch-off lottery tickets that came out in February.
"I was like well, I guess now that I have a penny I have to use it!" he said. 'And I thought, well these are new, let's grab one of these. And the first one, pop. I'm looking at it like, this can't be right."
The ticket, a $5 20X The Cash game, was a $250,000 top prize winner.
"I still don't feel like I really get it," he said. "It's surreal."
