Herman Owens Jr., a mechanic from Duplin County, said his $250,000 scratch-off prize means no more home mortgage and no more car payment.

“I’m going to pay off everything I owe,” said Owens, who lives in Willard.

Owens purchased his $5 20X The Cash ticket at the Harrells Store off Tomahawk Highway in Harrells and scratched the ticket in the store’s parking lot.

“I didn’t believe it at first,” Owens said of that moment. “It felt good.”

Owens claimed his prize last week at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $176,876.

All Multiply the Cash games can be entered into second-chance drawings on the lottery’s website. Prizes in the drawing include one $100,000 cash prize, eight $5,000 cash prizes, and 25 $500 cash prizes. The entry deadline for the second of four 20X Multiply The Cash second-chance drawings is May 31. The drawing is scheduled for June 3.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million per year for education. For details on how $4 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Duplin County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.