Fans to serve as Grand Marshals for Nicorette 300

This weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the "Gentlemen, start your engines" command may be as loud as the 800-horsepower racecars.

That's because 300 NASCAR fans that are part of Nicorette's race fan QUIT Crew will proclaim the most famous words in motorsports. They'll serve as Grand Marshals for Saturday's Nicorette 300 Nationwide Series race.

The 300 Grand Marshals -- the largest group ever to have this role at a NASCAR race -- will get VIP treatment, take a bow at pre-race introductions and command the Nationwide Series drivers to fire their engines to start the Nicorette 300.

"By treating 300 NASCAR fans as VIPs and letting them say the most famous words in motorsports live on ESPN2, Nicorette is raising the bar for sponsors making fans part of the sport," said Steve Phelps, NASCAR chief marketing officer.

The QUIT crew program has been a success in the NASCAR garage: 325 people representing 19 organizations in the sport have participated and approximately half that group has quit smoking, according to Steve Kapur, senior brand manager for GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.

QUIT Crew members at the track this weekend telling their stories include: Rocky Ryan, spotter for the No. 31 team; Roger Parkinson, shock specialist for the No. 41 team; and Steve Burnham, a pilot with Hendrick Motorsports.

The QUIT crew continues to expand in helping fans who choose to stop smoking. Since entering the sport in 2005, Nicorette has counseled more than 235,000 race fans at its Winner's Circle exhibits at race tracks. In Atlanta, each of the 300 Grand Marshals has successfully quit smoking using Nicorette.

Jeff Gordon, who is passionate about the cause, will drive six special DuPont/Nicorette paint schemes in 2008. On Saturday, he will also give away a Chevy Tahoe to a lucky fan in Victory Lane prior to the Nicorette 300.

Like the classic TV game show Split-Second, 10 fans chosen from a national sweepstakes will be given an ignition key. Only one key will work, and the fan holding it will drive home the brand new Tahoe. No need to use the ashtray, though.