SPRINGFIELD, IL \u2014 Someone in Central Illinois should be celebrating a life-changing windfall after scoring a $3 million prize in last night\u2019s Mega Millions drawing.<\/p>\n
The winning ticket was purchased at Qik-N-EZ, located at 430 N. Grand Ave. East in Springfield, Illinois. <\/p>\n
The ticket matched all five white ball numbers drawn on Tuesday, February 24 \u2014 12, 39, 43, 49, 55 \u2014 but missed the Mega Ball, 23. With a 3X multiplier applied, the original $1 million prize was tripled to $3 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis store has proudly served the community for more than 26 years and has celebrated many winning lottery moments along the way,\u201d said Damon Cranford, CEO of Chronister Oil Company, which operates Qik-N-EZ stores throughout Central Illinois. \u201cWhile this isn\u2019t the largest prize we\u2019ve ever sold, it\u2019s certainly among the biggest.\u201d<\/p>\n
For selling the winning ticket, Qik-N-EZ will receive a $30,000 bonus \u2014 equal to 1% of the prize amount.<\/p>\n
\u201cSharing in the excitement of a win like this is always special,\u201d Cranford added. \u201cWe\u2019re hopeful the ticket belongs to someone from our local community.\u201d<\/p>\n
In total, more than 11,000 winning Mega Millions tickets were sold in Tuesday\u2019s drawing.<\/p>\n
The excitement isn\u2019t over \u2014 the Mega Millions jackpot has now soared to $458 million for the upcoming drawing on Friday, February 27. Illinois Lottery players still have a chance to strike it big.<\/p>\n
Mega Millions tickets are $5 each and include a randomly assigned multiplier that improves all winning non-jackpot prizes by 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X, or 10X.<\/p>\n