$2M Lottery Win After Player Buys Scratch-Off In Shorewood

(The following edited press release was issued on behalf of the Illinois Lottery.)

SHOREWOOD, IL — A $2 million winning scratch-off ticket was purchased at Lenny’s Gas N Wash, located at 1201 W. Jefferson Street in Shorewood, Illinois Lottery officials revealed on Monday morning.

This isn’t the first time the retailer has sold a big winning lottery ticket. In December 2023, the store sold a $2 million winning Mega Millions ticket.

The latest winner took home the top prize of $2 million on a brand new $20 scratch-off ticket, Mega Bucks.

“It was a typical morning like any other – until it wasn’t,” explained the lucky winner, nicknamed ‘Classic Car Collector.’ “I was on my way to work, and I stopped at a gas station to buy a cup of coffee. At the checkout, I decided to grab a scratch-off lottery ticket, too – a purple one lit up on the screen at the exact second I looked at it, so I said, ‘I’ll take that one.’”

The winner scratched the ticket in his car and was initially in disbelief.

“As more and more zeroes started to appear, and then the final $2,000,000, I just couldn’t believe it. I kept staring at the ticket, thinking, there’s no way… this can’t be real,” said the stunned winner. “I went back into the store and scanned the ticket just to be sure. Even with the machine flashing ‘WINNER,’ I still didn’t believe it. I must’ve been standing there for a while because the clerk came over and asked if something was wrong, so I showed her the ticket – she put on her glasses, took one look, and screamed!”

Classic Car Collector laughed as he recalled, “That’s when it really started to sink in, and my first thought was, ‘I’ve got to get home and tell my wife!’ But when I did, she looked at me like I was nuts! I kept saying, ‘I just won two million dollars!’ and at one point I thought she was going to faint.”

The lucky player won the top prize on a $20 Mega Bucks ticket, which only launched on April 1.

When asked how he plans to use his exciting prize, the winner shared, “Collecting classic cars has been a longtime hobby of mine – I’ve been fortunate enough to own a few over the years. I like working on them, but even more, I love driving them. With this win, I’d like to buy a few acres of land, add another beauty to my collection, and store it there for whenever I want to take a joyride.”

This is also a big win for the retailer that sold the winning ticket, as the store will receive a selling bonus of 1 percent of the prize amount.

For Shorewood’s Gas N Wash, that means a bonus of $20,000.

So far this year, more than 20.8 million Illinois Lottery Instant Tickets have been sold, netting players over $548 million in prizes.

The Illinois Lottery currently offers a range of Instant Ticket games priced from $1 to $50, available at approximately 7,000 retail locations across Illinois.