Bart Collins of Greenville made a quick stop for a lottery ticket on his way to work Thursday morning and found himself the winner of a $100,000 top prize.

“I can’t be any happier,” said Collins. “It’s a great, great day.”

Collins purchased his lucky $4,000,000 Gold Rush ticket from the Food Lion on Red Banks Road in Greenville.

“I thought it was only going to be another $1,000 winner,” recalled Collins. “But it turned out to be much larger than that!”

Collins claimed his prize Thursday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $70,756.

As for his plans for his prize money, Collins has a few things in mind.

“My son is engaged to his girlfriend and they’re looking at houses up in Charlotte,” said Collins. “I’ll probably give him some money to put down toward the new house. And then I have a vintage ’69 Camaro that I’ve been trying to restore and this may help me get it finished.”

The $20 Gold Rush game launched in August with three top prizes of $4 million and six prizes of $100,000. Two $4 million prizes and three $100,000 prizes remain to be won.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $725 million a year for education. For details on how $10 million made a difference in Pitt County in 2019, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.