June 12, 2007

Racecar driver brings tobacco-free message to North Idaho

Hayden, ID -- Stateline Speedway will host Panhandle Health District favorite John Peterson of the Smoke Free 83 race team among other racers at the June 23rd Pro4 Nationals.

    Peterson will display his Pro4 Late Model racecar Friday, June 22, at Hayden Days and offer anyone who joins the Smoke Free team the opportunity to sign the Project Filter hood. On Saturday, he'll participate in a parade through Hayden and Saturday night he'll streak down the course at Stateline Speedway.

    Peterson's team is dedicated to sharing information to help Idaho residents prevent and quit tobacco habits. He founded the team after he quit smoking in 2002 with the help of free tobacco cessation classes sponsored by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and the state's health districts. The tobacco millennium fund pays for the smoking cessation classes.

    "I'd been using tobacco since high school and I had tried to quit by myself several times. I had some success but I'd go back to smoking after a few days or weeks," he said. "In the tobacco cessation classes I got the information that made it seem possible to quit. I was also guided to IdahoQuitNet.com, where I found more information that helped me finally quit."

    Teammate Phil Dugan joined Peterson on the team this year with his Project Filter Late Model. Together, they reach youth across Idaho and the western United States to give them the information to avoid a tobacco habit. In March, Peterson visited with the fifth-grade students at DeSmet and Worley as part of the Tar Wars program to help them view tobacco advertising skeptically and realize what a person is signing up for by trying tobacco.

    Team information, race recaps and car videos are available at www.SmokeFree83.com <http://www.SmokeFree83.com>. For details on the programs that helped Peterson quit, call Panhandle Health District at 415-5142 and the Idaho QuitLine at 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visit www.IdahoQuitNet.com.

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