Charles “Chuck” Holt of Hugoton made the long drive to Topeka this week to claim his $100,000 prize he won on the 100X The Cash instant game. Long hauls aren’t anything new to Holt, who is a truck driver, but this ride was particularly nerve- wracking.

“I scratched the ticket off on December 31, so I was already been nervous about waiting for the right time to come claim the prize,” said Holt. “The whole drive here, I had the ticket in my pocket and would keep checking to make sure it was still there. I’m definitely glad to have it turned in finally!”

Holt said he waited to come claim the ticket due to work obligations. “It’s a long drive from Hugoton to here and I knew I would be passing through on my way to a job in Minnesota, so I decided to hold onto the ticket until then.”

Holt said he thought he had been pranked when he first scratched off the winning ticket.

“When I got to the matching symbol and I uncovered the prize amount, it showed ‘$100,000’. I assumed somebody was messing with me. It wasn’t until I had the clerk check the ticket and it printed out a claim form that I knew it was real.”

“I just stared at the ticket in disbelief for a minute or two before finally snapping out of it,” Holt said. “I signed the back of the ticket and put it in a safe place until I could claim it.”

Holt said he already has some ideas on what to do with the money. “I’m definitely putting some back for retirement, but we also have five kids, so there’s lots of expenses this could help with as well. It’s a real blessing for the whole family!”

The winning ticket was sold at Toot N Totum 124 at 520 East Eleventh Street.

Submitted by Kansas Lottery.