It was a different kind of drive Thursday for Pocono Raceway.

For its 10th consecutive year Pocono Raceway opened its gates to the American Red Cross to sponsor a blood drive.The event this year included a special ceremony dedicated to honoring the fallen troopers of the Pennsylvania State Police."At the Red Cross we often refer to donors as everyday heroes for rolling up their sleeves and making sure that blood is where it's needed, when it's needed," said Colin Riccobon, external communications manager of the American Red Cross."And then you look around and you see Pennsylvania state troopers who perform so many selfless acts in our communities and for individuals, they are, everyday heroes."The blood drive was officially kicked off with a ceremonial lap in honor of fallen troopers.The Pocono Raceway pace car lined up on the track followed by two mounted officers, and a number of various state police cars. With lights flashing the group entered the raceway reaching speeds of 100 mph. A state police helicopter took the ceremonial lap in the air as well.According to Riccobon, the Pocono Raceway blood drive has collected 2,199 units of blood since 2006.Michelle Baehr, executive director of Red Cross Humanitarian Services, Pocono Mountain Chapter, spoke of the close relationship shared by the Red Cross and the state police."We became particularly close to the state police during the 48-day man hunt in the fall of last year," Baehr said."We are here celebrating life today, the lives of the fallen Pennsylvania state troopers, we celebrate that, we celebrate life through this blood drive, which is our largest blood drive of the year for our chapter."We cannot thank you enough, we thank you for your support. We bring calm to the chaos. We are proud to do that and to bring that to this community," Baehr said.Lt. Col. George Bevins, deputy commissioner for operation for the state police graciously thanked the raceway for hosting the drive in honor of fallen state troopers.He was especially grateful to the Red Cross for all of the support given to the troopers, the searchers for other organizations and the families of the stricken officers following the Blooming Grove shooting last fall."The support, following the incident was unlike anything I had ever seen in my law enforcement career," Bevins said. "I want to take a moment to specially thank the Red Cross of Northeast PA. They responded immediately providing over 1,000 meals per day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were delivered to multiple locations in Pike, Wayne and Monroe County area, 24/7, throughout the duration of the manhunt."Bevins added that the state police were proud to be able to give back by attending the blood drive and participating by donating blood.Bevins also took the time to thank the Igdalsky/Mattioli families for all of the support to the state police by hosting the blood drive and for the generous support of the state police and for their generous financial donations to the families of Col. Bryon K. Dickson and trooper Alex T. Douglass.Dickson was killed and Douglass was seriously wounded in a shooting at the Blooming Grove barracks that led to a 48-day manhunt which ended with the capture and arrest of Eric Frein.Nick Igdalsky, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Pocono Raceway took a few minutes to thank the Red Cross and the state police for their efforts on behalf of the community."We are proud to be a part of this effort," Igdalsky said. "Growing up, this is something that was near and dear to our father. I believe he donated gallons of blood in his lifetime."Igdalsky was one of the first to volunteer to donate.The Red Cross took the time to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the blood drive by awarding a number of certificates to the 10-year participants. Certificates were presented to Bevins, Pocono Raceway, as well as, Bob Pleban, vice president, media relations/administration for Pocono Raceway and Pocono Medical Center.