RALEIGH - Halftime during the Charlotte Bobcats game last night was revved up even more than usual when five North Carolina Education Lottery (NCEL) players took to center court to try to win the motorcycle of their dreams as part of the NCEL’s Harley-Davidson® “Win Before It Begins” promotion. Ultimately, Yvonne Howard of Albemarle walked away with the coveted prize—a 2009 Harley-Davidson® Fat Bob® motorcycle!

Howard says that when all of the finalists were opening their envelopes on the giant Harley-Davidson® tickets, she saw something that didn’t look like numbers so she just ripped it open and nearly fainted when she saw the motorcycle symbol. For years she says she had told her husband, Reece, that when he retires they would get him a motorcycle. The timing couldn’t have been better. He officially retires today after nearly 30 years of service with the N.C. Department of Transportation, and now he has his motorcycle! Reece was so stunned by his wife’s win that all he could say was, “Wow!”

The other four players vying for the motorcycle were Darrell Cheers of Shallotte, Bryan Ferdinand of Charlotte, David Stroud of High Point, and Raymond Austin of Greensboro. While only Howard rode away with the motorcycle, the other four players each walked away with a $1,000 cash prize.

All five finalists entered the Harley-Davidson® “Win Before It Begins” drawing by mailing in non-winning $5 lottery tickets during the promotional period from Feb. 16 through March 16. More than 32,000 entries were received. The “Win Before It Begins” drawing was a special promotion to help welcome back the popular Harley-Davidson® scratch-off game that launched in stores March 24. The $3 ticket has eight top prizes of $75,000 and a total of nine chances to win a 2009 Harley-Davidson® Fat Bob® motorcycle. Players can scratch their way to win one of six 2009 Harley-Davidson® Fat Bob® motorcycles instantly, or they may enter each non-winning Harley-Davidson® ticket into any of the three second-chance drawings. The NCEL will award one motorcycle per drawing. More than 1,000 Harley-Davidson® merchandise prize packs also will be given away during the second-chance drawings.