A $150,000 lottery win means no more car payments for Snow Hill’s Edward Shingleton after he won the top prize playing $500 Cash.

Shingleton was on his way home when he stopped at the Main Street Mini Mart on East Main Street in Hookerton and bought two of the $5 tickets. He wasn’t lucky on the first one, but when he scratched the second he was brought to tears by what he saw: a $150,000 win.

Shingleton rushed home to share the good news with his wife.

“You’d better sit down,” he told her, handing her the ticket. “Can you read that?”

“No,” she replied in disbelief.

“We’re going to get our car paid off,” Shingleton said.

Shingleton claimed his prize Friday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. In addition to paying off his car, he plans to use his after-tax winnings of $103,876 to help with other bills.

$500 Cash launched in December with 10 top prizes of $150,000. Four remain unclaimed.

Ticket sales from games like $500 Cash made it possible for the lottery to raise more than half a billion dollars for the state last year. For details on how more than $9.2 million in lottery funds has made a difference in Greene County, click on the “For Education” section of the lottery’s website.