A ray of sunshine led to a Newaygo County man winning $2 million playing the Michigan Lottery's 100X The Cash instant game.

 

The lucky player, who chose to remain anonymous, bought his winning ticket at the BP gas station, located at 1028 West Main Street in Fremont.

 

"I was coming back to work after making a delivery and traffic on Main Street was jammed up, so I stopped at the BP to get a couple Cashword tickets," said the player, who chose to remain anonymous. "As the clerk was getting my tickets, the sun hit the front of the 100X The Cash ticket just right and it sparkled and caught my eye, so I asked for one of those too.

 

"I got to my truck and scratched the ticket off. When I saw I had a winner, I ran back inside and right away the clerk asked if I was all right. I showed her the ticket, and she started crying. Neither of us could believe I had a $2 million winner!"

 

The 56-year-old player then headed home to share the good news with his wife.

 

"My wife was outside when I got home so I called her in to the house," said the player. "When she came in, I was doing my happy dance and told her we'd won big. She didn't believe me and made me go back to the gas station to verify the ticket was a winner."

 

The player visited Lottery headquarters Wednesday to claim the big prize. He chose to receive his prize as a one-time lump sum payment of about $1.3 million rather than annuity payments for the full amount. With his winnings, he plans to pay bills, buy a new car, and then save the remainder for retirement.