Union County man stops for a Sprite, wins $200,000 lottery prize

Published 1:56 pm Thursday, June 28, 2018

Joshua Reynolds of Monroe said a stop to get a Sprite turned into a $200,000 lottery win after he followed a “lucky feeling.”

His good fortune happened Tuesday afternoon at Earps BP on Cambridge Commons Drive in Charlotte.

“I don’t really play that much,” Reynolds said. “I only stopped to get a Sprite. The person in front of me got a lottery ticket, and I just had a feeling I should get one.”

Reynolds asked for a $5 Carolina Cash scratch-off ticket.

“I kept looking at the ticket,” Reynolds described. “It didn’t feel real. I’m so glad I listened to that feeling.”

He claimed his prize Wednesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $141,003. He plans to use the money to buy a house.

Carolina Cash launched earlier this month with three top prizes of $200,000. One top prize remains.

Any winning or non-winning Carolina Cash ticket can be entered into the lottery’s Player’s Club for a chance to win a N.C. Dream Vacation package. Second-chance winners can choose one of five different vacation packages. The deadline to enter the first of four drawings is June 30.

Ticket sales from instant games like Carolina Cash make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $600 million a year for education. For details on how over $15.4 million raised by the lottery supported education programs in Union County last year, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website, www.nclottery.com.