CJM Racing honors Nevada Highway Patrol in Vegas

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- America's Incredible Pizza Co., sponsor of the No. 11 Nationwide Series car driven by Scott Lagasse Jr., is all about incredible things in 2009. This season the pizza company would like to recognize incredible people that have done incredible acts.

The "Incredible Heroes Program" is the brainchild of Rick Barsness, founder and CEO of America's Incredible Pizza Co. Barsness' idea was simply this: Find hometown heroes in the cities where the Nationwide Series races, and show them how incredible they really are. Almost immediately the search began to find heroes across the country.

"There are so many incredible people out there doing wonderful things everyday that you never hear about. We wanted to help get those stories out and recognize these people," remarked Barsness.

The Nationwide Series heads out west to Las Vegas this weekend and would like to recognize the incredible acts of the Nevada Highway Patrol. Not only do these folks protect the community, they also help lift the spirits of children in intensive care during the holiday season.

A group of Nevada Highway Patrol officers voluntarily have money taken out of their paychecks to help purchase toys for children at Sunrise Children's Hospital and University Medical Center's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. The troopers arrive with red wagons and hand out gift bags with everything from dancing Santa's to matchbox replicas of the troopers cruisers.

The gesture does not go unnoticed among the parents with children in the intensive care units.

"This makes me believe again, makes me believe that there is compassion left in the world," Corrie Peach, mother of 5-month-old Danielle Peach who just underwent open-heart surgery said. "It's a good distraction from the upset mood that you're in to begin with."

In honor of their incredible acts, Sgt. Charles Lee will be attending the Sam's Town 300 as a guest of CJM Racing. Trooper Lee will enjoy a behind the scenes look at the Nationwide Series and spend some time with Lagasse Jr.

"We just want to help people and give back to the community, especially children, around the holiday season," Lee said. "Just let them know we're not giving tickets out all the time, we hand out toys, too."

The Incredible Heroes campaign will run throughout the 2009 Nationwide Series season. If you know of an Incredible Hero and would like to nominate him or her please contact Cassie Witt at cwitt@incrediblepizza.com.