Glenn Elliott of Hillsborough says a $200,000 lottery prize will help him buy a home and a car he’s been dreaming of since childhood.

“I’m working on buying a house,” said Elliott. “So this will help with that down payment. But I’ve been dreaming about an older sports car since I was a kid. Just have never been able to get one.”

The retired state employee bought one Carolina Cash ticket late Thursday afternoon from Eagles on Hampton Point Boulevard in Hillsborough. He scratched the ticket in the store – no win. Deciding to try his luck once more, he bought a second $5 ticket and won big.

“I knew I was a winner,” said Elliott recalling the moment. “But I still had to keep looking at it! I eventually brought it up to the cashier and said, ‘I think I won something.’ And then they started hollering when I said, ‘I think it’s $200,000!’”

Elliott claimed his prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $141,003.

“I’m thinking I’m going to get either a Mustang or Camaro,” said Elliott. “You can’t go wrong with either.”

Ticket sales from instant games like Carolina Cash make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $600 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.