As Timothy Credle of Fayetteville sat in his car early Wednesday morning scratching a lottery ticket, he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw a $100,000 prize staring back at him.

“I cut the light on in the car to check to see if I was seeing it correctly,” he laughed. “I thought I was seeing things.”

Credle bought his lucky $20 Power 20s ticket from Massey Hill Inc. on Gillespie Street in Fayetteville.

“I just got so excited,” he recalled. “I never thought I’d win something like this.”

He arrived at lottery headquarters Wednesday to claim his prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $71,506.

“I didn’t believe it at first but now I know it’s real,” he said.

Credle plans to use his winnings to pay some bills and visit his family in Connecticut.

The Power 20s game debuted in October with four $2 million top prizes and eight $100,000 prizes. Three $2 million prizes and five $100,000 prizes remain to be claimed.

For details on how $21.9 million raised by the lottery made a difference for education programs in Cumberland County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.