Ronald Lunsford, a painter from Kings Mountain in Cleveland County, says he plans to use the $1 million prize he scratched off on his Maximum Green ticket to pay off his mortgage and help with retirement.

“I bought the ticket on Friday, so we’ve had it all weekend,” Lunsford said. “It’s really been stressful. But this means we can take care of all of our bills.“

Lunsford said he bought one Maximum Greene ticket at the Times Turn Around on Wilkinson Boulevard in Belmont. He is the first player to claim a top prize in the game.

“I scratched it off in my truck,” he said. “I knew it was a million, but really had to wait until I got home to my wife to let her look at it.”

Top prize winners in the Maximum Green game have the option of claiming their prize as a 20 year annuity, or as a lump sum. Lunsford chose the $600,000 lump sum, which had an after-tax value of $408,003.

As of Monday, seven more top prizes of $1 million remain to be claimed in the Maximum Green game.

Through June 30 of last year, Cleveland County has received $24.3 million in education funds from the lottery. To date, the N.C. Education Lottery has raised more than $2.2 billion for education initiatives statewide.