Hello, I'm John Peterson and I'd like to introduce you to the Smoke Free 83 race team.
Ed Barnowski races Motocross and joined the team in 2009.
Ed brought the first series championship to us by winning the 40B veteran class the Idaho State Championship Series.
Matt Teichert also joined the team in 2009 and races Motocross in the Idaho State Championship Series.
Matt loves to go big on the track and takes his bike to the winner's cirlcle more often than not.
If it weren't for a digger on the track that put him in the hospital last year, Matt would've also clenched a title.
Our team started in 2002 when I took advantage of the free resources to quit tobacco that are offered through Idaho's Project Filter program.
Before I heard about IdahoQuitNet.com, 1 800 QUIT NOW, and the free cessation classes available in Idaho, I had switched between smoking and chewing for 16 years. I'd tried to quit several times by myself over the years but I wasn't going about it right. Before I finally quit tobacco, it actually seemed be impossible and that made me realize how addicted I was.
IdahoQuitNet.com and the classes were great sources of support because I learned things like..
- The chemistry designed into tobacco products to get us hooked and keep us hooked
- How to get myself prepared for quitting
- Choosing the right treatment for me and learning that I'd need use it right to
- Tips to handle the temptations after quitting that had pulled me back so many times before
After my quit date, there were lots of tough points and it was just as much work as when I'd tried to quit before.
But having a plan helped days without tobacco turn to weeks, months, and now years.
So what does quitting tobacco have to do with racing you're probably asking. Well, the year before I quit tobacco for good with the help of Project Filter, I was racing in the beginner Mini Stock class at Idaho's Meridian Speedway.
Lots of friends and race fans use tobacco and I was so excited about my success that I wanted to share the tools I'd found with them too.
Since 2002 I've been racing across Idaho and the western US with 1 800 QUIT NOW, IdahoQuitNet.com, and Project Filter on board to help race fans realize that resources are available to help them quit when they're ready.
Be sure to check out our blogs each week to see where we've been, who we met, how we raced, and what we learned.
