The second of ten trucks has been claimed in the BIG Montana Truck Raffle Game offered by the Montana Lottery. Christine Mitchell of Helena has claimed her 2009 Ford F-150 Lariat crew cab from Montana Lottery headquarters. Mitchell bought her winning ticket from Holiday located at 401 Euclid Avenue in Helena.

Christine and her husband Vince came to Lottery headquarters first thing this morning to drive their prize home. “I scratched it on Friday afternoon at 5:30 – a half hour after the Lottery office closed for the long weekend. I had to wait all weekend to bring my ticket in. It was a long three days,” Christine explained. She said she even tried calling the Lottery office hoping someone would be there. “I knew they were closed for the long weekend, but I still tried to call,” she said. Christine said she rarely plays scratch games but decided to buy a ticket after she read about the first Truck winner, Tom Schmidt from Missoula.

“We were in the market for a new vehicle,” Vince said. “We were talking about buying a truck or a car.” Vince and Christine said they told a few family members over the weekend, but were still in disbelief until this morning. They weren’t sure if it was a winner, so they said they tried not to get too excited until they knew for sure. “We couldn’t believe it. This could not have come at a better time for us,” Vince added.

Eight trucks remain in the Raffle-style Scratch game as instant win prizes and one Truck remains as a second chance prize, which will be drawn for January 20, 2010. All non-winning Truck tickets are eligible for the second chance drawing, which players can enter at www.montanalottery.com.

Pictured is Christine Mitchell and Montana Lottery Director George Parisot.