Mega winner bodes well for Streamwood gas station

No matter how long it takes for the owner of an $81.5 million lottery ticket to come forward, the owners of the Streamwood Shell station that sold it know they've got $500,000 coming their way within weeks.The station at Route 59 and Irving Park Road sold one of two winning Mega Millions tickets whose lucky owners will split a pot of $163 million. The numbers were drawn Tuesday night."It was pretty good news for us," said Ljupka Milenkovic, general manager of the Shell station.She was both surprised and excited to learn that her station had sold the most valuable lottery ticket in Illinois since 2002.Milenkovic said there's been a surge of customers since the announcement, a combination of well-wishers and those who hope the station's luck will rub off on them by buying their lottery tickets there.Though in the past the gas station could have expected 1 percent of the value of the ticket - or $815,000 - a recent law caps such vendor winnings at $500,000.The station she manages is one of 24 in the area jointly owned. No decision has yet been made on how to use or divide the money, she said.Shell station owner Bob Stambolic told ABC 7 Chicago that he plans to give his five general manager bonuses of $10,000 each from the lottery earnings.The second winning Mega Millions ticket was sold in New Jersey.Illinois and New Jersey are among 12 states that participate in the Mega Millions game, Illinois Lottery spokesman Courtney Hill said.No winners have yet come forward to claim their prize. Hill said winners often wait a few days or even a few weeks before coming forward.But the operators of the Shell station in Streamwood should receive their share after the completion of paperwork that takes only three to five weeks to process. They won't have to wait for the ticket holder to come forward, Hill said.