For Wade Nelms, the ride is over. His Semper Fi Salvo pizza in a Papa John’s national contest failed muster to make him a top three finalist.

His edible tribute to the Marines, however, did make him a top 10 finalist out of some 12,000 entries.

“It was definitely an awesome experience,” the Roanoke Rapids native and former news director of WPTM  said in an interview Tuesday. “I wanted to bring respect and attention to the Marine Corps. I enjoyed seeing others get excited about it.”

Nelms currently lives in Newport and is a Carteret County commissioner. He happened to see a link to the contest on Facebook. “I just sat there a couple of minutes and that’s what came to mind,” he said of the pie to honor that branch of the military.

The contest required using the ingredients the pizza chain has on its menu. Nelms chose an original crust pizza topped with barbecue sauce, mozzarella, a three cheese blend, beef, spicy Italian sausage, jalapeno peppers, mushrooms, pepperoni and Roma tomatoes.

The barbecue sauce neutralizes some of the spiciness, Nelms said. A local Papa John’s made the pizza and he said it tasted good.

The announcement of the three finalists was made Tuesday on Papa John’s Facebook page.

While his pizza won’t be on a Papa John’s menu, there is still a way to see what it tastes like by simply phoning in an order and requesting the ingredients.

Nelms is pleased with the experience. “I congratulate all the finalists and wish the top three the best.”

He gets a year of free pizzas from the chain.