Needing energy before work, Johnny McEachern of Red Spring stopped to get an energy drink, but got his boost instead with a $250,000 lottery win.

The diesel mechanic’s good fortune happened at Atkinson’s Cigarette Land on West Fifth Street in Lumberton.

“I was only planning on getting the drink,” McEachern said. “I saw the lottery tickets and decided, ‘Why not?’”

He bought a Hit $500 ticket and scratched it when he got to work.

“I couldn’t believe what I saw,” McEachern said. “I thought it must be a misprint. At first I was like, ‘How could this be happening to me?’ But then I was like, ‘Why not me?’”

McEachern claimed the prize Tuesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $176,254. He plans to use some of the money to pay bills. He’ll put the rest in savings.

The $5 ticket launched in July with six top prizes of $250,000. Two top prizes remain.

Ticket sales from games like Hit $500 make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $650 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.