200 drivers are winners as lottery gives away gas

Vancouver, Wash. — When Washington's Lottery offered free gas to promote its games in the past, it got plenty of takers. This year, with gas prices above $4 per gallon, the response was ridiculous.

People started lining up at the Salmon Creek Albertsons station at 10:30 p.m. Thursday, even though the gratuitous gasoline didn't start flowing until 6 a.m. Friday.

"Giving away gas is always an attractive prize," said Jacque Coe with Washington's Lottery. "We didn't realize, when (the price of) gas started going up, what an attraction it would be."

Lottery officials arrived at the station around 4:30 a.m. Friday. By then, 40 cars or so were in line.

The first 200 cars to line up got 10 free gallons of gas. There was a catch, of course: Each driver had to buy a $20 ticket for the state lottery's Raffle game to get the gas.

It's a small catch, Coe said. Especially if one of the people who waited in line ends up winning the $1 million top prize.

Although the dedicated overnight campers got first crack at the gas, even those who found out about the promotion later Friday morning had a chance to queue up. Some had time to make it through the line twice or return home to bring another vehicle.

Several people, whose tanks were too full to hold 10 more gallons, brought gas cans to catch every last drop of fuel.

Around 7:45 a.m., the 200th car entered the line and Washington's Lottery employees slapped a "Last Car" banner across its rear window.