Nationwide Series Incredible Hero

Mooresville, NC (May 27, 2009) – John E. Martel Jr. was heading home from Philadelphia Raceway on April 16th, 2009 when the quiet drive home soon turned into a heroic effort to save a man’s life. Martel Jr. had his windows partially down as he was driving down Route 1. The highway noise gave way to screams for help. Martel Jr. quickly pulled alongside of the road, followed the cries for help and found a man and a woman lying in the middle of the road.

The woman lay motionless while Michael Kogan was alert but in immediate need of medical attention. Both of his legs were severed. Martel Jr. quickly took his shirt off to make a tourniquet for one leg and ran back to his car for another shirt to do the same for the other leg. He then proceeded to call 911 and wait for help to arrive.

In the minutes that passed, Martel Jr. did his best to comfort the young gentlemen and held his cell phone up to Kogan’s ear so that he could talk to his mother. Moments later the ambulance arrived and transported Kogan and the women to the hospital.
Although severely injured, Kogan pulled through surgery and survived the freak accident. Unfortunately the motionless woman, Reyna Castro, was dead at the scene.

After a thorough investigation it was determined that Ms. Castro’s car got a flat tire that evening. Kogan pulled his car in front of her car and went to get something out of his trunk. At the same time, Castro was getting the spare tire from her trunk when suddenly a car at approximately 70 mph collided into Castro’s car and pushed her car into Kogan.

If not for Martel Jr.’s fast reaction and ability to remain calm, Kogan would not have made it to the hospital in time.

The Incredible Heroes are extended an invite to attend the NASCAR Nationwide Series race as guests of CJM Racing and the America’s Incredible Pizza Company. Each hero receives a plaque in recognition of their heroism and they spend a VIP day at the race track.

The Incredible Heroes campaign will run throughout the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series season. If you know of an Incredible Hero and would like to nominate him or her please email: heroes@incrediblepizza.com for consideration or check out www.incrediblepizza.com/contests/incredibleheroes.
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Contact Information

Shayna Keller

Media Relations Manager

CJM Racing, LLC

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