David Winstead of Nashville has been playing the lottery two tickets at a time, hoping to win a big prize. His big win just occurred in the Ultimate Millions game as Winstead became the third North Carolinian to find one of its $10 million tickets.

Winstead, a small businessman, plays regularly, but he said his rule is only two tickets at a time. That’s what he did recently at VRAJ on North Louisburg Road where he bought two $30 tickets in the game.

Outside the store, sitting in his truck by himself, Winstead found the prize he has been looking for on the first ticket he scratched. “I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I knew it was real, but it was a shock.”

Then, Winstead said, he drove home to share the news with his wife. The couple said it took a while for their good luck to sink in.

“That night, we were watching TV,” Laura Winstead recalled, “and then we just turned and looked at each other.” “And I said,” added David, “‘Are we really millionaires?’”

The couple became the state’s newest millionaires Tuesday as they claimed the prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. Players who win the $10 million top prize can choose to take the prize as an annuity, receiving $500,000 a year for 20 years, or as a lump sum of $6 million. Winstead sought financial and legal advice before claiming his prize money. He chose the $6 million payment and, after state and federal taxes were withheld, received $4,155,009.

Winstead said he and his wife would use the prize money to pay all of their bills, to make home improvements, to set up college funds for their grandchildren, and to donate to their church. And he said his good luck means a dream he’s had of fishing in the Big Rock Blue Marlin tournament at Morehead City could now come true.

The Ultimate Millions, which started in September 2015, still has one top prize of $10 million to be claimed and four $1 million prizes. Players also can enter their tickets online into a second-chance drawing for a $1 million prize.

Ticket sales in games such as Ultimate Millions make it possible for the lottery to raise more than half a billion dollars for the state each year. For details on how $41.9 million in lottery funds have made a difference for specific education programs in Nash County, click on the “Where the Money Goes” tab on the lottery’s website.