A forgotten Powerball ticket tucked in the console of one Clayton County man’s truck has turned out to be a hidden gem from the Georgia Lottery.  Ramon Rodriguez, of Rex, matched five of six numbers from the Aug. 8 Powerball drawing, winning a $1 million prize.

Rodriguez, 54, claimed his prize Wednesday at Georgia Lottery headquarters in Atlanta.

“It’s been in my truck for two months,” he said. “I had put it in the center console.”

The Texaco Gas Station at 5248 Bouldercrest Road in Ellenwood is where Rodrigues bought the lucky ticket.   The father of two adult children with his wife, Rosa, selected family birthdays as his numbers.

Rodriguez was one of two players to win a $1 million prize from the August 8, 2012 drawing.

Norcross Food Mart in Lawrenceville also sold the second winning ticket worth $1 million to J.T. Willis of Lawrenceville.  He claimed his prize in August.

Winning numbers from the August 8, 2012 Powerball drawing were: 3-7-11-15-28 and the Powerball was 12.

“I went to the computer and looked at the numbers,” Rodriguez said. “I said, ‘This can’t be right!’ I looked twice.”

Shaking, the lucky winner said he woke up his wife and daughter to share with them the good news.

Saturday’s Powerball jackpot drawing is at an estimated $60 million to a single annuity winner.

As with all other Georgia Lottery games, proceeds from Powerball will benefit education in the state of Georgia.

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corporation has returned more than $13.6 billion to the state of Georgia for education.  All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program. More than 1.4 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.2 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.