NASCAR Fans Quit to Win; Richard Petty Inspires 'Quitting Crew' on Their Journey to a Smoke-Free Winner's Circle
- Counseling and Support Offered to All NASCAR Fans at Key Races -
PITTSBURGH, March 18 -- What do NASCAR fans and NASCAR drivers have in common? Motivation, dedication and a desire to win! Now NASCAR legend Richard Petty, known for his dedication to the sport and his long history of winning, will help motivate a group of racing fans to begin winning streaks of their own! Five NASCAR fans have been chosen to be members of Petty's "Quitting Crew", and will become a major part of the Winner's Circle quit-smoking program sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare.
As racing fans follow their favorite drivers throughout the NASCAR season, they will also be able to see how well the smokers in the Quitting Crew have prepared themselves, with weekly successes or setbacks posted on the Winner's Circle area of Quit.com. Members of the Quitting Crew will use a complete course of Nicorette(R) nicotine gum, NicoDerm(R) CQ(R) nicotine patches or Commit(R) nicotine lozenges from GSK Consumer Healthcare during their quit attempts.
The Quitting Crew will also get personalized assistance from the brands' unique online support program, Committed Quitters(R), which provides practical information on managing the quitting process, including controlling stress and limiting weight gain, two of the most important issues for many people quitting smoking. The Committed Quitters support program is available only with GSK Consumer Healthcare's quit-smoking products, and is clinically proven to increase the likelihood of a successful quit. Quitters will also be encouraged to take advantage of the additional support available from community resources, state sponsored quit-smoking support hotlines, friends and family.
"I am proud to be supporting the Quitting Crew, and hope I can really help make a difference as they try to quit smoking," Richard Petty said. "In racing, a driver is only as good as the team. Any smoker who wants to quit is lot more likely to succeed with a good team to support him or her."
The Quitting Crew was selected from applications taken among fans at this year's Daytona 500 race. The members are: Fonda Byrd of Orlando, Fla.; Jim Green of Calabash, N.C.; Robert Hill of Indianapolis, Ind.; Phillip Thompson of Fishers, Ind.; and Patricia Viellenave of Kingsland, Ga. Find out more about each crew member's smoking history, their favorite NASCAR team and how they are quitting by following the Quitting Crew link at http://www.quit.com/. Weekly diaries of each crew member's progress will be posted starting April 4th.
Petty's introduction of the Quitting Crew comes as NASCAR's first quit- smoking sponsor takes to the track at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend in the Golden Corral 500. The Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates' #41 Target Dodge Charger is running a special paint scheme for GSK Consumer Healthcare's Nicorette Fresh Mint to jump-start the Quitting Crew's efforts to kick the habit.
"It's great to see how well prepared these five quitters are for their quit attempts, and I've learned how much support the products can provide," said Casey Mears. "I'm looking forward to watching these quitters become smoke-free winners." GSK Consumer Healthcare is an associate sponsor of the #41 Target Dodge Charger, and the new Nicorette(R) Fresh Mint(TM) brand will be featured on the rear deck lid of Mears' car throughout the 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season.
The quit attempts of the five NASCAR fans will be tracked for 12 weeks via personal diaries posted on the Winner's Circle area Quit.com, the quit-smoking brands' web site that features extensive information for people interested in preparing for and following through a quit attempt. The Quit.com diaries will allow millions of other smokers to experience a real life quit attempt and facilitate their own quitting by portraying the real-life challenges involved in the process.
"Every smoker's habit is different, as will become abundantly clear in the experiences of these five quitters. For those who have tried to quit and failed, following these quit attempts may motivate another try," said certified smoking cessation counselor Frank Vitale, who will provide counseling to the Quitting Crew throughout the program.
Successful Quitting Crew members will get a trip to the Richard Petty Driving Experience. They will spend a day and a half at a Richard Petty Driving Experience, where they will receive expert driving instruction and will experience the thrill of driving on a professional racetrack.
At 23 races this season, GSK Consumer Healthcare will reach out to all NASCAR fans who want to quit smoking with the informative and interactive Winner's Circle exhibit. Fans will receive free quit-smoking counseling at the exhibit, and will experience the speed and energy of NASCAR racingfirst- hand with a racing simulator.
Visitors to the exhibit will also see exciting NASCAR moments on plasma screen televisions, and can take their picture alongside car #41 Nicorette(R) Fresh Mint(TM) Dodge and life-size cut outs of Casey Mears, Richard Petty and his son, Kyle Petty. Souvenir photos can be retrieved online at the Winner's Circle area of Quit.com. At selected races, members of the Target Chip Ganassi Racing team, Casey Mears and Richard and Kyle Petty will make personal appearances at the exhibit. More information about quitting smoking and GSK Consumer Healthcare's NASCAR events can be found online in the Winner's Circle area of Quit.com.
About Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates made its debut at Daytona in 2001. The team has expanded to include three NEXTEL Cup teams, one NASCAR Busch Series team and two Daytona Prototypes in the Grand American Sportscar Series. The NEXTEL Cup teams have amassed five wins and a rookie of the year title in four years, while the Busch team secured a victory in just its seventh start. In their first season of competition in 2004, the Grand Am teams had eight poles, three wins and a championship under their belt.
About NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing has a broad reach with 1,800 racing events in 36 states at more than 110 tracks. The sanctioning body for stock car racing is headquartered in Daytona Beach, FL, with offices in Charlotte, Concord, NC, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York and Toronto. More Fortune 500 companies are involved in NASCAR than any other professional sport. NASCAR has 75 million fans and is the second-highest rated sport on network television. NASCAR fans say they are three times more likely to purchase the products of NASCAR sponsors than non-sponsors.
About GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare is one of the world's largest over- the-counter consumer healthcare products companies. Its more than 30 well- known brands include the leading smoking cessation products, Nicorette(R), NicoDerm(R) and Commit(R), as well as many medicine cabinet staples, Abreva(R), Aquafresh(R), Sensodyne(R) and Tums(R). GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare continues to develop innovative products to help all smokers find their best support system and achieve their goal of being cigarette free.
About GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline is one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare companies. GlaxoSmithKline is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.
