FORT RILEY, Kan. - Sgt. Dustin Lutterman and a few friends recently were sitting at a table in the Burger King on Custer Hill waiting for their cheeseburgers to cook. As they waited for their numbers to be called, Lutterman began peeling away a contest sticker on the side of his drink cup. The sticker was part of a joint promotion from Burger King and the Army and Air Force Exchange Service called "Cruz for Victory."
"It didn't say anything, but just had two raceway flags," Lutterman said. "I wondered, 'what the heck was this'' So I looked it up online, and it said that I won some speedway trip. It was for 2010, and I could take four people to any race I wanted to go to."
The problem is the truck driver with Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division expects to be deployed by the time his free trip becomes available. Lutterman called Burger King's manager, Marla Kennerson, about a cash option on the prize.
"He came up here and was super excited and said, 'I can't believe I won this. I didn't think the game was real.' And I said now you know it's real," Kennerson said.
Lutterman had worked at another fast food restaurant before joining the Army six years ago. Even though that food chain had a similar "peel-and-win" contest, the Topeka native said he found his own moment of victory difficult to believe.
Reality sank in March 26 back at Burger King, when Lutterman received a large mock check for $6,000 from Burger King and AAFES officials.
The contest ran from Jan. 26 through March 9. Representing AAFES was Stan Young, AAFES general manager for Fort Riley and McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita.
"There were two winners of (Lutterman's) prize worldwide," Young said. "That's the fourth prize level. The odds of winning are 1 in 799,740."
Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Ian Mann also was on hand to congratulate Lutterman and his wife, Rachel.
"This is another example of AAFES and Burger King working together for the benefit of Soldiers, Families and retirees of our Army," Mann said.
As they talked, Lutterman's 2-year-old son Xavier climbed up the indoor playground equipment. His 1-year-old sister Samantha sat in a high chair chewing on a French fry.
The Luttermans said they plan to save a portion of their winnings, use some to pay bills and spend part of it on a vacation.
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